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THE PSYCHOLOGY ANH THAININGt 
OF THE HORSE. 



THF 

SYCHOLOGY AND TRAINING 



OF 



THE HORSE 



BY 



COUNT EII6ENI0 MARTINEN60 CESARESCO 



''■t 
't 



NEW YORK 
CHARLES SCR1BNER»S SONS 
LOJifDON 
T. FISHER M^u ; 

ADELPHl 

.32510H MAISAHA HH I 




The Arabian Horse. 
After a Paititing by Horace Veniet. 



THE 
PSYCHOLOGY AND TRAINING 



OF 



THE HORSE 



BY 



COUNT EUGENIC MARTINENGO CESARESCO 

1 1 



^ 



NEW YORK 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
LONDON 
T. FISHER UNWIN 

ADELPHI TERRACE 
MCMVI 



/ / 






All rights reserved. 



Lihe all other animals the horse is composed of 
a machine and of a, mind which sets the machine 
in motion. People who manage horses usually give 
little importance to the mind. But the mind is most 
importaiit as to command the machine we must first 
command the mind. 

Some ohservations on this subject may he useful 
to those ivho have to do with horses. I have added 
a few remarhs on bridling, on the use of the curb -hit 
and on turning. 

Said, 

La (JO di Garda. 
June, 1906. 



oonte:nts 



age 


1 


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6 


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12 



The Mind of the horse. 

Intelligence — Imagination — memory 

Excitability to motion peculiar to tbe horse 

Senses, sensitiveness, sensations . 

Instincts, inclinations, feelings 

Ideas and feelings. — Their origin. — Ideas an<l 

feelings which we may call forth in the horse » 20 

Will, actions ; motives of actions. How we can in- 
fluence his will so as to secure the actions 
we desire . . . • • • . » 25 

Signs by which he shows his ideas, his feelings 

and his intentions . . . . . » 31 

Signs of a desire to perform certain movements 
inferred from his attitude and the positions 
he assumes . . . • . . » 36 

His attention is directed to only one thing at a 

time » 39 

Things he understands naturally and which have 

influence upon him . . . . . » 40 



VI 11 



Eft'ect of good treatment on his nature 

Effect of punishment ..... 

How to act on his mind and feelings . 

Individual qualities and character 

Things that somewhat modify his mental qualities 
and character . . 

Certain mental qualities are generally coupled with 
certain physical ones .... 

Attacks of the horse against the man who grooms 
him. — Causes. — How they may be over- 
come ....... 

Oppositions and reactions against man and rider 
causes; how they may be overcome . 

Special aptitudes ...... 

Importance of a good disposition and good mental 
qualities in the horse for his instruction 
and his serviceableness . . . . 



age 


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5G 
57 

58 

61 
64 

64 



Hoic the horse J earns and how he 
must he taught. 



Remark 

How the horse learns 

HoAV he remembers 

How he judges 

Good and bad associations 

Associations which increase 
which diminish it 



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69 


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73 


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78 


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80 



fear and associations 



82 



IX 



Associations calculated to show the horse our su- 
periority and to teach him obedience, and 
associations which make the horse under- 
stand his strength and teach him disobe- 
dience J^age 83 

We must avoid giving the horse associations con- 
trary to our purpose of controlling him, i. e. 
giving him associations which make him 
understand that he is stronger than we are, 
that he can do as he wishes in opposition 
to our will, and which teach him disobe- 
dience .,.....» 85 

He must be taught in the same way that he 

learns of himself . . . . . » 97 

The means of teaching are the various aids and 

punishments . . . . . . » 98 

Punishments .and caresses in teaching . . . » 100 

Way of making the horse understand that he is 
desired to perform or not to perform an 
action and inducing him to perform or not 
to perform it. Associations of pleasure or 
of approval and associations of pain or di- 
sapproval ........ 102 

Necessary conditions in order that the horse may 

learn ......... 107 

Attention » 108 

Confidence ......... 109 

Obedience . . . . , . . . » 111 

The associations of pleasure or approval should 
follow immediately on the action performed 
and required to be performed, and the asso- 



ciations of paiu or disapproval should follow 
immediately on the action performed and 
not required Page 114 

The associations which are given him for the pnr- 
jjose of teaching the actions we desire to 
teach him to perform should be of things 
that his intelligence can understand, in the 
way he can understand them, and of things 
suited to give rise to the ideas of the actions 
we desire to teach him to perform, to make 
him understand what we wish him to do. 
The same associations should always be used 
to indicate the same actions, and the mo- 
vements it is desired to teach him should 
be those which his body can make, and for 
the making of which it has been prepared » 116 

All tluit is taught him should be taught a little 
at a time by gradation aud after i)repara- 
tion of his body. These things are also ne- 
cessary because their absence may cause 
oppositions and reactions . . . . » 118 

Actions, aids, punishments, aud associations which 
the horse understands naturally, with which 
may be associated the actions it is desired 
to teach him to perform, and by which these 
may be taught him . . . . . » 124 

Things and actions which the horse does not un- 
derstand naturally, but which he learns im- 
mediately by means of associations with the 
things which he understands, and which it 
is necessary to teach him, owing to their 
being a matter of prime necessity with a 
view to his instruction . . . . » 127 



XI 



The aids of the hand, of the weight of the body 
of the rider and other aids are mechanical 
and after they have been learnt become 
mental or conventional aids . . . Page 130 

Associations of place and associations of time or 

succession ...,...» 134 

Way of teaching" . . . . . . . » 140 

Teaching' the horse to advance at a given sound 

of the voice . . . . . . » 145 

Teaching the horse to stop and remain still at • 
another given sound of the voice and to go 
backwards . . . . . . . » 149 

Way of teaching him to stand still alone . . » 152 

Substitution of other aids or other signals for those 
by which the horse has learnt to perform 
the actions taught . . . . . » 155 

It is not true that the horse guesses what it is 
desired to make him do when he is led with 
the lounge or ridden ...... 159 

Things which the horse is taught for spectacular 

purposes . . . . . . , » 1C2 

Teaching the horse to be afraid of a man dressed 
in red, not to be afraid of a man dressed in 
white, to be afraid of a given object or of 
a given place .... 

Teaching him to seize with the teeth . 

Teaching him to raise his legs alternately 
knock at the door 

Teaching him to do the Si)anish walk . 

Imitation is a means of teaching . 





» 


168 




» 


170 


y and 






. 


» 


173 


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178 


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181 



xn 



He should not be allowed to perform actions with 
an idea and in a manner contrary to the idea 
of obedience Page 183 

Teaching him to leave off doing some action which 
is not desired 



Necessity of giving the horse the habit of perform- 
ing the actions taught him 

Repetition is necessary with a view to making him 
learn, making him remember and to main- 
tain facility of execution .... 

How to make the horse forget the actions taught 
by bad associations ..... 



183 



185 



186 



188 



Hoic the horse is taught obedience. 



What is obedience. Whence it comes. — Obe- 
dience by persuasion ...... 193 

Necessity that obedience be by persuasion and by 

habit » 196 

By what means the horse is taught obedience . » 198 

Way of teaching him confidence . . . . » 201 

Way of showing the horse our superiority . . » 202 

Special means of showing the horse our superiority 

and how to employ them . . . . » 204 

Importance of a good disposition for obedience . » 208 

Various ways of i)roceeding in teaching obedience, 

according to the various natures of horses » 210 



How to deal with the oppositions and reactions 



XllI 



made by the horse wlien being taught con- 
lideuce, obedieuee and our superiority. How 
they can be overcome .... Page 213 

Causes of oppositions and reactions while he is 
being taught contidence and obedience. How 
they may be avoideil . . . . . » 216 



He should not be given any occasion to lose obe- 
dience ........ 



218 



Time required for teaching the horse obedience. In 
teaching him his mechanism must not be 
spoilt » 221 



Fear. 

The nature of fear in the horse and houi 

it must he dealt with. 
Hoiv he can he taught not to he afraid. 



What is fear 

How fear arises in the horse 

Signs of fear ...... 

Effects or reactions caused by fear 
In which horses fear is most dangerous 
Fear is an evil which has its useful side 
Causes of fear . . . . . . 

Circumstances which diminish the horse' s fear 
Circumstances which increase his fear . 
Various kinds and degrees of fear 



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229 


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237 



XIV 



We must seek to dispel liis fear .... Page 240 

How fear may be removed ...... 241 

Means of persuasion . . . . . . » 242 

On what conditions fear may be removed by tlie 

means of persuasion . . . . . » 244 

Mode of teaching the horse not to be afraid of a 

given object ....... 246 

Teaching the horse not to be afraid of an object 

after he has once become afraid . . » 255 

Teaching the horse not to be afraid while ridden » 257 

Punishments given to the horse which shows fear 

while ridden ....... 259 

Degree of possibility of allaying fe«ir ...» 266 

We must prevent occurrence of accidents to the 
foal which is taught outside the riding school 
in order not to give liim bad associations 
inspiring him with fear . . . . » 267 

There is great liability to error with respect to 
the susceptibility of horses to fear and their 
excitability to motion . . - . » 270 

In riding it must be sought to anticii)ate the fear 
of the horse in order to be in time to pre- 
vent his reactions of fear . . . . » 273 

In riding the fact of the rider keeping the horse' s 
attention tixed on himself assists in i)re- 
venting fear . . . . . . » 275 

Pretence of fear . » 276 

Teaching the horse not to be afraid of railway 

trains, fire arms and motor cars . . » 277 



Reactions. 



XV 



Reactions . . - 

Various reactions . 
General causes of reactions . 
Special causes of reactions . 
How reactions are determined 
Remedy against reactions 



. Page 


295 


» 


296 


» 


297 


. ~ » 


298 


» 


300 


» 


309 



On the hr idling of horses and the use of the curb -hit » 312 



Bermat'lts on turning which is moving on a curve . » 330 



^^:^Jl^^ 



mwwwwwwwwwwwft 



THE MIND OF THE HOESE 



Intelligence — Imagmation — Memory. 

The horse is endowed with fair intelligence 
within the range of ideas allowed by his mental 
constitution and faculties, and owing to this fact 
he is susceptible of being taught many actions and 
movements. The intelligence he possesses is limited, 
but it is sufficient to enable him to understand 
whether he should respect those who handle or 
ride him : to feel the justice or injustice of pu- 
nishments inflicted ; to study the means of oppo- 
sing, anticipating and circumventing the rider' s 
guidance in order to follow his own desires ; to 
choose for attacking man the moment when he 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 



is not attentive to him and has his eyes directed 
elsewhere. 

In wild horses the intelligence is far more 
acutely developed in all that relates to the satis- 
faction of the requirements of subsistence and of 
self-preservation. In this respect the domestic horse 
largely loses his intelligence owing to the fact that, 
having everything prepared for him, he does not 
need to exercise this faculty. The domestic horse 
is more intelligent in other matters which he learns 
owing to his contact with man from birth. 

The intelligent horse is intent on observing the 
slightest movements of the rider he is bearing, 
and understands his intentions in this way. The 
rider, before guiding the horse to perform any 
particular action, gives him certain preparatory 
aids and likewise by force of habit and without 
noticing them, makes special movements with liis 
body. 

The horse, which has already experienced, on 
many previous occasions, these preparatory aids, 
and felt these special movements, which the rider 
makes before putting him through a given move- 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 



ment, is perfectly cognisant of them, and imme- 
diately understands from them what the rider will 
require him to do. The rider who is in the habit 
of giving these preparatory aids and making these 
given movements, does so without perceiving them, 
and, being unaware of them, thinks that the horse 
guesses his intention. 

Horses in general are attentive to their rider, 
and vicious ones in j)^i*ticular study the rider' s 
posture and movements in order to avail themsel- 
ves of the moment when no attention is paid to 
them, to carry out opposition or attack, or follow 
their own will. When led by the hand the vicious 
horse watches for the opportunity to injure the 
groom while he is not on his guard. 

The horse is possessed of great imagination. He 
magnifies and is bewildered by everything. For 
this reason the imagination of the horse has become 
proverbial in Italy. The horse's imagination, mag- 
nifying everytliing with his great susceptibility to 
fear, is an evil, but has its compensating feature 
in the ^fact that it causes the animal to accept 
readily the idea of our superiority, which makes 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 



him obedient to our feeble aids and punishments. 
Upon this, i. e. upon the great eifect of our weak 
means of action upon his imagination, is based 
the possibility of our power over him. 

The horse is usually observant and attentive to 
everything, and remembers things well. He is par- 
ticularly mindful of good treatment and bad, and 
of all persons and objects which gave him pleasu- 
rable sensations and disagreeable sensations or sen- 
sations of fear, also of the circumstances and places 
where he experienced these feelings and which were 
associated with them. 

His memory of persons, objects and of events 
happening to him and giving him pleasurable sen- 
sations, and of the places where they hapj^encd, 
makes him hope that he may anew be given plea- 
surable sensations on seeing again tliese persons, 
objects, occurrences, places, and even on the occur- 
rence of the slightest circumstance which reminds 
him of these persons, objects, events and places. 

His memory of the persons, objects and places 
which gave him disagreeable sensations or fear 
makes him apprehend that lie may again expe- 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 



rience disagreeable sensations or fear on his seeing 
again these persons, objects, oocnrrences, places, or 
even on the occnrrence of the slightest circnmstance 
recalling to his mind these persons, objects, events 
and places. 

If he has experienced fear, or has been hurt 
by any object, he remembers it, he is afraid on 
seeing that object again and seeks to escape from 
it. If at some place he was frightened or hurt by 
a given object he is frightened again on being 
brought to that place. He gladly sees and desires 
to approach an object or person that has caused 
him pleasure. He avoids or tries to avoid the person 
wlio threatened or ill-treated him and the object 
from which he derived pain. So he is alarmed if 
someone shows him the whip with which he was 
previously struck. 

His memory makes his training possible, as it 
allows of the animal remembering the movements 
taught. The horse well remembers the various 
signals or aids by which he was compelled to 
assume certain given positions with his body and 
go through the various paces and evolutions, and 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 



after having gone througli them several times, on 
the first signals he guesses the movements he is 
required to make and does them by himself. 

Excitability to motion iwmdiar to the horse. 

The principal characteristic of the horse is a 
peculiar nervous excitability, so that on the sligh- 
test sound, gesture, provocation, threat or toucli 
he puts himself in motion and runs. The extreme 
excitability of his nerves or the facility with which 
he puts himself in motion at the slightest insti- 
gation or signal is his most precious quality for us. 

This quality is in harmony with the purpose 
for which he was intended, which is that of motion 
and of serving a useful purpose by motion. His 
excitability and the facility with which he is put 
in motion makes him amenable to our aids and 
punishments for exciting him to go and gives us 
the means of mastery over him by the aid of our 
hands, because it is by means of his motion and 
during his motion that the horse may be brought 
in hand by the aid of the reins, i. e. may be 



THE MIND OF THE HOESE 



brought into that collected position in which it 
is possible to act mechanically on his body and to 
make him go through the movements we desire, and 
prevent him from making those he would wish. 

His excitability and facility to motion is the 
basis on which his training and our dominion over 
him are founded. We must endeavour to give this 
excitability and readiness to go to the horse which 
is without them, to the lazy one. The above is the 
quality which essentially distinguishes the consti- 
tution of the horse from that of the ass. Without 
it the horse would be on the same level as the 
ass, superior to the latter only in form and appea- 
rance. 

To remain still when free and alone in the 
open air is incompatible with his excitability and 
readiness to motion and must not be required from 
him. He will remain still if he is occupied in 
grazing, or if he is extremely tired, but only as 
long as he is not excited by some cause. 

His excitability prompts him to run on seeing 
anything moving, and whilst he is running he is 
induced to run still faster on seeing that someone 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 



is pursuing him. For this reason, if it is desired 
to catch a horse turned out in the open it is 
necessary to approach him slowly and not run 
after him. This constitutional quality appears in 
different degrees in various horses according to 
their breed, and according as they are better or 
worse specimens. 

Senses, sensitiveness, sensations. 

Usually the horse has delicate and acutely deve- 
loped senses, particularly those of smell and hear- 
ing. He sees from a distance and during the night 
time. In general however the sense of sight in 
horses is rarely perfect, as they on many occasions 
show fear even of objects with which they are 
acquainted, and in this wa}^ prove that they do 
not recognise them. The horse hears noises from 
afar. 

The tactile organ is the muzzle, he sniffs at 
the object he desires to recognise through tlie 
nostrils, and touches and feels them with the 
muzzle. 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 



His delicate sense of smell does not allow liim 
to eat tilings having a bad odour or to drink bad 
water. The odour of decomposing substances and 
that emanating from wild beasts alarms him. I do 
not know how he distinguishes good plants from 
bad. Probably poisonous plants have a peculiar 
odour by which the horse is instinctively warned 
not to eat them. , 

Ordinarily the horse has no great sensitiveness 
in the skin covering the body and the legs; his 
sensitiveness is, however, great behind the second 
bone of the shoulders, on the flanks, beneath the 
belly and on the inside part of the thigh. He feels 
the excitement or irritation known as tickling on 
being touched in these parts. He gives signs of 
this by becoming restive, by kicking, pawing and 
trying to bite, and by these movements he endea- 
vours to prevent the irritation being continued. 

He experiences annoyance if touched roughly, 
and fear if touched unexpectedly. If touched roughly 
so that he experiences pain about the eyes, ears 
or head, he raises his liead, turns it in another 
direction, recedes, attempts to bite, and employs 



10 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

every meaiivS to avoid being touched and bring 
about a cessation of the irritation. 

Pinching behind the second bone of the shoul- 
der excites him to bite, and this fact is turned to 
account by circus performers for the purpose of 
teaching him to seize and hold objects with his 
teeth. 

Threatening or touching him with the riding 
or driving whip has the effect of stimulating him 
to move, if he can, and making him break away. 

The spur excites many horses to exertion. On 
many mares and on some horses it has a bad 
effect and is an injurious excitement, and they 
become restive and attempt to kick, bite or jump. 

Hysterical mares stop or kick on being touched 
with spurs. The legs and spurs continually applied 
are particularly exciting to many horses. Some of 
them are excited owing to the contact of the stir- 
rup hanging from the saddle, and others by feeling 
the saddle, the harness and fittings or the crupper. 

The cavesson is usually effective with all horses 
as it acts upon the brain ; the seat of intelligence 
and will. 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE ll 

The frequent repetition of the act of touching 
diminishes and finally may remove the irritation or 
fear due to being touched, and may accustom the 
horse to the act. 

Sensations are involuntary, the horse cannot 
help experiencing them. He cannot help experien- 
cing fear, the tickling sensation and the other 
feelings called forth in him by objects. The effect 
of these sensations may be diminished by repea- 
ting the process of touching him very often and 
by letting the animal see that the object which 
inspires him with fear does him no harm. 

Aids and punishments should not be too often 
repeated so that the horse may not become accu- 
stomed to them, when they would fail of their 
effect. Senses, sensitiveness and sensations are usual- 
ly more powerful in a well-bred horse, as he is 
more highly strung. 

Over-sensitiveness of the mouth results in it 
being impossible to employ the horse with the bit 
and at times even with the snaffle, and excessive 
nervous excitability renders it impossible to main- 
tain mastery over the animal, as it results in his 



12 THE MIND OP THE HORSE 

going aliead at too great a speed, witliout the 
power to restrain him. His degree of sensitiveness 
gives greater or less value to his sensations and 
determines his degree of responsiveness to aids 
and punishments. 

Instiiicts, inclinations, feelings. 

He has the same inclinations, the same in- 
stincts and the same feelings as man. He is so- 
ciable, likes the company of other horses, and 
neighs to attract attention to himself and call them. 
On seeing them or observing them pass he is at- 
tracted; seeks to approach them, feels regret on 
separation and would like to follow them. This 
may sometimes cause trouble, but in many cases 
it is an advantage. The example of another horse 
going into the water or passing close to an object 
which inspires him with fear is for him the most 
effectively persuasive argument when others do not 
avail. 

He is extremely liable to be seized by fear or 
dread from the slightest cause, and thinks imme- 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 13 

diately to save himself from all and everything 
that threatens him or which he believes to be 
threatening him, or which causes him pain, by 
dashing away at the utmost speed. 

His extreme susceptibility to fear is a gi'ave 
inconvenience and a great evil on many occasions, 
but it is the factor by means of which mastery 
is obtained over him. Our dominion over the horse 
is based on his trust and confidence in us, but 
also on his readiness to obey, which largely de- 
pends on his fear of punishment. The instinct of 
fear, which is the instinct of self-preservation, in 
many cases so over-powers him that he does not 
feel the aids employed nor the punishments inflic- 
ted and can no longer be controlled. 

A resort to actual force inspires him Avith fear, 
excites him to reaction and often desperate resi- 
stance with all his strength, until either he frees 
himself or does himself such injury as to be able 
to react no longer. Thus if he feels himself drawn 
by force towards an object Avhich inspires him with 
fear he backs, and it is in many instances impos- 
sible to get him to advance again even by severe 



14 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

punishment. He yields to the force exercised on 
him only if we succeed in inspiring him with 
much fear on the side on which he desires to go. 
When influenced by fright he may try to defend 
himself by kicking and biting. 

Like all animals he seeks pleasure and flees 
from pain. He seeks the satisfaction of his natural 
wants and of his instincts. The fact of his being 
under the influence of his instincts must not be 
attributed to him as a fault. We must seek to 
dominate him by preventing and guarding him 
against circumstances and situations which may 
call them into play and excite him. 

When he is not afraid or ill-tempered he feels 
pleasure on being caressed and stroked with the 
hand, particularly on the top of the head, on the 
neck, on the eyes, and this is a means of indu- 
cing him to regard us as friends and do as we 
desire. 

He is afraid of falling ; therefore, if he stumbles, 
he moves with energy for some time after and if 
he falls makes efl*orts to rise. He becomes easily 
discouraged however and if, after he has fallen, he 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 15 

I has made some attemipts to rise and has not suc- 
ceeded he thinks he cannot succeed, gives up hope 
and lies motionless; powerful stimulation is then 
required to induce him to endeavour to regain his 
footing. 

It is the instinct of horses as of all animals 
to incur the least possible fatigue. The idea that 
it is good to work is a thought suggested to man 
by reflecting on the necessity and utility of work. 
All animals instinctively know that it is better 
not to work aud they do not exert themselves with- 
out a sense of necessity, or a desire to seek the 
satisfaction of their natural requirements or instincts, 
or escape a danger. 

The lion sleeps when he has fed and moves 
when he feels the pangs of hunger. The horse 
runs, springs, goes collected and with high action 
in exuberance of spirits when he is fresh imme- 
diately after resting. This he does in order to faci- 
litate the vital functions of his body. When this 
need has passed he goes through the amount of 
exercise which is required for keeping his limbs 
in proper condition and then does not move without 



16 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 



a special reason, i. e. without something exciting 
him or inspiring him with a feeling of fear or 
dread. 

The animal when at liberty regulates his mo- 
vements so as not to expend more energy than is 
compensated by his supply of food; on growing 
tired he feeds and rests and after feeding and 
resting takes exercise as he feels the need of mo- 
vement in order to facilitate the secretions requi- 
red for organic function. The instinct j)i'ompting 
him to spare himself fatigue makes him careless 
in his movements and at times he stumbles and 
falls. 

He was created for motion and requires motion. 
After good food and rest, a deficiency of exercise 
induces in liim a state of nervous excitement which 
is due to excessive exuberance of spirits and he 
feels the need of jumping and running in order 
to get rid of the nervous excitability which tor- 
ments him. If he is unable to do so he grows 
vicious, as idleness' is the root of all evil and suffers 
physically, as the want of exercise causes disorders 
in the body and congestion in the legs. 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 17 

Under the influence of this excitability or ex- 
cessive exuberance of spirits, he prances about 
without paying attention to either direction or 
distance and injures even the man who is friendly 
to him although he may have neither reason nor 
intention to injure him. For this reason it is always 
well not to trust him and to stand near the shoul- 
der so as to offer less facility of being hurt. Ea en 
when lame he may feel this physical excitement, 
and jump, and injure himself, and he should be 
prevented from jumping by covering his eyes. 
Owing to this restlessness he acquires stable vices 
when in the stall, as it prompts him to kick and 
bite, and he thus learns to knoAv his own strength 
and the weakness of man. 

There are horses who on passing through the 
water feel an inclination to lie down in it. Care 
should be taken not to allow this when the horse 
is mounted and the animal should be induced to 
continue moving. Lying down on the ground and 
rolling over is a thing often done by the horse 
when at liberty and seems to be a reaction against 
cold, perspiration and fatigue and a method of 
giving the body a sort of electric shock. 



18 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

In the sixteeutL ceutury tliere was a special 
place kept, provided a\ itli plenty of straw, in wliicli 
the horses, on returning from work could roll over 
to their hearts' content and remove the stiffness 
given to their limbs by fatigue. 

The horse feels irritation and anger if acted 
towards in a way which displeases him; he feels 
envy if another horse receives food wliilst he has 
none. He feels sometimes antipathy or hatred to- 
wards a given horse without an intelligible reason ; 
in this manner several horses occasionally come 
to an understanding against one of their number 
and it is requisite to separate them in order to 
prevent them from injuring liim. Some horses 
hate all other horses and injure them on their 
approach. 

The (U'dinary horse is much more subject to 
fear and is much more obstinate and difficult to 
persuade than a horse of a good breed. He resem 
bles the ass, who seems rather indifferent to both 
good and bad treatment. All the instincts are more 
powerful and acute in the ^vl\{{ horse and in that 
reared in the open air than in the domestically 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 19 



reared horse. lu tlie free state horses are able to 
defend themselves from wolves. 

Domiestic rearing deprives them of their mental 
acuteuess and the power of the senses and instincts 
possessed by wild horses in respect to the satisfac- 
tion of their needs and self-preservation. The wild 
horse must see to provide for his safety and for 
his nutriment and is more intelligent and quick- 
witted. The domestic horse does not think of his 
needs, as man tliinks for him. For this reason his 
mind does not develop in this respect, whilst it 
becomes more intelligent in other ways owing to 
his being always in contact with man. The wild 
horse in also more wilful and more difficult to 
subjugate and hold in obedience. 

The entire strongly feels the natural instinct, 
and also jealousy, and is usually restless and irri- 
table. He is usually endowed with courage and is 
able to defend himself from wild beasts. Several 
horses are on record as having defended themsel- 
ves Aviien placed in the circus together with lions 
and tigers. They were however of a vicious nature. 
Mares and geldings are usually docile. Entires 



20 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

reared in our climate are not adapted for the purpo- 
se of riding as in general they cannot be mastered. 
Arabian entires may be mastered and mounted but 
under certain circumstances they may give trouble. 
It is not true that the horse instinctively feels 
the superiority of man. The wild Iku'sc, Avhich does 
not feel any such superiority, proves this. Tlic 
liorse reared domestically feels the superiority of 
man because he sees it from his birth, but man 
soon loses this superiority if he does not kno\\ 
how to handle him in the riglit way to maintain 
it. It may on the other hand be said tliat tlie 
wild horse has instinctive fear of man (knowing 
instinctively that he is an evil creature) is averse 
from allowing himself to be caught and seeks to 
escape from man. 

Ideas and feelings — Their origin 

Ideas and feelings 

Which we may call forth in the horse. 

The horse is intelligent, but only within a very 
limited range of ideas, ^viiicli always relate to his 



THE MIND OP THE HORSE 21 



instincts of fear or self-preservation — to the satis- 
faction of his needs such as feeding, drinking, etc. , 
I and to the sensations he receives due to objects. 

The ideas of the horse arise : from his instincts ; 
from the objects which, coming under the action 
of his senses, give rise to sensations in him ; from 
the movements made by ourselves or others which 
he sees and observes ; from the actions he has per- 
formed or has been able to perform. 

The sight of ourselves or of another horse mo- 
ving in front gives him the idea of following. The 
sight of others running gives liim the idea of run- 
ning. For this reason we can give rise to the ideas 
Avc desire in him ; by letting him see objects, cir- 
cumstances and movements Avhich call forth in him 
the required ideas ; by making movements which 
call forth in him certain ideas we desire; by asso- 
ciating one action with another and letting him 
see that by such and such an aid he is constantly 
compelled to go through a certain movement. 

His desires, his feelings, his intentions and his 
will to make movements are caused by and are 
likewise due to his instincts; to the objects Avhicli 



22 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

come under the action of liis senses ; to tlie move- 
ments lie sees and observes around liim wliicli lie 
knows to liave given liini pleasure c^r pain and 
wliicli he tlierefore accounts for good or evil. 

Caresses usually give liim pleasure, give rise 
to the idea that we are giving him pleasure, that 
we are friendly to him, and accordingly he is glad 
to see us and is disposed to allow himself to be 
guided by us. 

Bad treatment in the stable and outside calls 
forth in him the idea of fear, of our being enemies, 
of aversion, of tleeing from us, of opposing us, of 
hatred, of injuring us. 

The memory of an act he has performed which 
has been several times associated with another or 
followed by anotlier act recalls the latter to his 
mind and gives him the idea of performing this 
act again or that this act Avill occur again. On 
seeing anyone take in hand the sieve in which 
oats have already been given to him several times, 
the sieve reminds liim of the oats given to liiiu 
in it which lie has eaten, and arouses in him the 
idea of having them and that it is intended to 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 23 

giye liim them again. By sliowing him the oat 
sieve you make him expect something that is 
good. 

By placing liim anew in circumstances and po- 
sitions in which he was able to obey his own im- 
\ pulses we give rise in him to the idea and desire 
of following out his own impulses anew which is 
an idea we should not give him and should not 
allow others to give him. 

When one is not yet sufficiently master of 
the hoTse to be able to hold him back it is requi- 
site that he should not be allowed to pass on to 
the threshold of his stable so as not to give him 
the idea and temptation of entering. If he has 
been in a position to carry out any independent 
action and lias been allowed to do so he always 
remembers liaving been able to do so and for this 
reason conceives the idea and the will of doing 
so again. 

If he has been able or alloAved to swerve 
once or go aside from an object which inspired 
him with fear he con-ceives the idea of being able 
to swerve in this way and desires to do so whene- 



24 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 



ver lie sees tlie object which arouses in him the 
idea and tlie feeling of fear until this idea has^ 
been removed by preventing him from swerviug. | 

If he has been prevented from carrying out any 
movement of his oavu accord, or from going into 
the stable Avhen he desired, he conceives the idea 
of it being possible to prevent him, of his not 
being able to do it, and therefore of obedience, 
and he remembers it. 

We should treat the horse in such a way and 
place him in such a position as to arouse in him 
ideas of advantage to us and particularly the idea 
of his not being able to do as he desires and there- 
fore of obedience, and we must not allow of his 
being in a position to carry out his own impulses 
and acquire the idea of superiority over us. This 
is a rule which should never be departed from in 
training horses and which should always be obser- 
ved in our relations Avith all horses. Many liorses 
merely from seeing that they have once been able 
to have their own way become intractable and are 
no longer amenable to control. 



tni. MIND OP THE HORSE 25 



' Will, actions, motives of actions. 

Mow we can influence his will so as to secure 
the actions, we desire. 

Tlie liorse is master of his oAvn movements and 
j acts by his own will ; going or stopping and every 
; other movement is due to his will. Even when he 
' obeys us he acts by his own will ; he obeys and 
I performs an action whicli he is ordered to perform 
because he has accepted the idea of doing so at 
our invitation or command. 

The horse performs a movement because there 
has first arisen in him the idea of doing it and 
his will has then decided to carry it out. After 
having conceived the idea of carrying out a move- 
ment by an impulse of the will he conveys to his 
nerves the command to execute it and these do so 
by calling into action the corresponding muscles. 
From this it is seen that in order to teach him 
any movement it is necessary to first call forth 
in him by some means the idea of the movement 
it is desired to teach him to make and after Avards 
excite in him the will to do it. 



26 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

When he desires to carry out anv aotion due 
to his own will there is usually a brief interval 
between the conception of the idea of performing 
this action and the act of volition which results 
in its execution. This interval allows us, by avail- 
iufi!; ourselves of suitable means with the necessary 
promptness, to prevent the execution of the action 
he had the idea of carrying' out. 

Usually when on horseback it is possible to 
prevent the execution of an idea conceived only 
in a trained horse, as the trained, i. e. obedient 
horse is not so decided in carrying out actions due 
to his own Avill as the untrained horse and leaves 
a greater interval between the conception of the 
idea, and its execution, because tlic trained horse 
has learned to obey the aids of the liand and the 
aids and punishments for exciting him to motion 
which are etfective in preventing the execution of 
the idea ])y causing him to advance, and not allow- 
ing him the time to take up tlie necessary posi- 
tir»n preparatory to tlie action. 

Tlie liorse is master of his limbs and if Ave 
desire that he should put them in motion accord- 



THE MIND OF THE HOKSE 27 



ing to our requirements it is necessary that we 
should give him ideas and phace him in circum- 
stances which make him see and feel the desira- 
bility and moral necessity of puttino- his limbs 
into motion in the given way we wish. 

All the actions of the horse have a cause, a 
motive, and when it is not possible to see or to 
discover a motive for them, the motive actuating 

I him is the memory of some object seen or heard, 
some action seen or done. Owners cannot under- 

I stand why their horses offer defence, as they do 
not know what their men have done to the horses ; 
the horses however know the reason of their act- 
ing in this way. 

The motives for the actions of the horse, deter- 
mining his will, whicli make him feel the necessity 
of making or not making a moA ement, are princi- 
pally his instincts, his natural inclinations, the 
desire to satisfy his natural wants (to feed, to 
drink, to seek pleasure, to flee from pain, to flee 
from an object which inspires him with the idea 
of danger or with dread), and the fear with which 
he is imbued by a superior power or a power that 



28 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

appears to hiiu to be or wliicli he believes to be 
superior. Our power appears to him superior owing 
to the ett'ect of his imagination and to the way in 
which we emph)y our power so as to make liim 
believe it superior and to deceive him. 

Wlienever he desires to perform or performs an 
action there is the reason that his instinct impels 
him to do it or that he remembers having done 
it or having been able to do it once before, or else 
because sensations awakened in hiin by the outside 
^^()rld give rise in him to ideas connected with his 
instincts and the latter prompt liim to perform or 
not to perform one action or another according to 
the nature of the action, i. e. according to whether 
pleasure is promised liim or pain is foreseen from 
its performance. 

The fact of finding himself at liberty excites 
him to jump and run, the sight of others running 
excites liim to run, the sight of an object which 
gives him fear impels him to turn aside, draw 
back and flee, the sight of other horses excites him 
to run to them as their company gives him plea- 
sure. Motion or passage from one place to another 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE ' 29 

is usually an action very easily called forth in him 
owing to his peculiar excitability to motion. 

It must not be demanded of him that he should 
not feel inclined to do what his instincts tell him 
to do. We must proceed so as to prevent his con- 
ceiving ideas or having opportunities and tempta- 
tions to perform those actions which are not good 
for us or which run counter to obedience, and 
must prevent him from performing such actions. 
On the contrary, we should place him under cir- 
cumstances Avhich make him feel the moral neces- 
sity of performing those actions which are of profit 
to us and Avhich we desire he should do. This is 
tlie manner of preventing liim from performing 
actions due to his OAvn Avill and of inducing him 
to carry out the movements we desire. 

The recollection of having been able to perform 
an action on another occasion is the commonest 
reason Avhy the horse desires to perform most of 
his actions. If, when passing in the vicinity of 
the stable, he lias once been able to enter it (the 
idea of pleasure, of food, drink and rest being 
associated with the stable) notwithstanding the 



30 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

<>ppo.siti()ii of man, this fact forms the motive, 
which, whenever Jie passes by the stable, makes him 
want to enter it, and lie will enter it each time 
until lie has found some one wiio can prevent him. 

After having been prevented repeatedly from 
doing this the idea will come to him that he cannot 
go there, that he ought not to go there, and this 
will be the reason for his not going. He first wanted 
to go to the stable because the stable promised him 
pleasure, but afterwards does not Avish to go there, 
i. e. renounces his desire to go there, because he 
has seen that the desire to go to the stable has 
brought punishment or pain upon him, which Avas 
inflicted upon him when he desired to go there, 
and because he has seen that he has not been able 
to go there — because he has been prevented. 

If a man has ill-treated him and the horse has 
seen that by kicking he has inspired the man with 
fear and has made liiin draw back, this is the 
motive from Avhich he will always remember to 
kick and will desire to kick any man who goes 
near him whom he fears (although he does not 
kno\A liim), because he (conjectures that he is like 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 31 

he other man who iivst ill-treated ,him and that 

e also desires to ill-treat him. 

I If under certain (circumstances, in the presence 

pf certain objects or in certain places he has felt 

[fear and has been a])le to turn back, this fact is 

(the motive from which lie, finding himself anew 

'i 

in the same circumstances, will again desire to 

turn back. If on being pricked with the spurs' he 

jlias been able to throw up the croup, on being 

touched again he will rc})eat this movement. 

It dei)ends upon us not to give him ideas, 

temptations and opportunities for performing ac- 

ii 

jtions against our desire or to our detriment, by 

1 

inot conducting him where he w(Hild be subject to 

ithem before training has taught him obedience 

and has enabled him to be collected or put into 

Ithat position of the body in which he is in our 

■ power, and can be held back. 



kphs h)/ u'liicli he shows his ideas, his feelincis 
-^--^^^'^ and his intentions. 

! The horse gives signs of ideas, feelings, desires, 
passions, or intentions to perform certain actions, 



32 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

prompted by sensations^ experienced from the actions ( 
of oiirselves or others — by liis eyes, his ears, by i 
nei^hin^, by the movements he makes Avith his 
body and with <me or another of liis limbs and by " 
his assuming (pertain preparatory positions suited to ^ 
carry out the intended movements. These signs, or ; 
some of them, precede his actions. 

In the horse the eyes are the mirror of the mind.' \ 
Horses able to simulate are but rarely met with, \\ 
in contrast to man in whom sincerity is an exception, i! 

Quiet eyes indicate quietness and sincerity; quick | 
and lively eyes, vivacity; restless eyes turning in ' 
all directiims, indicate suspicion and show that the i 
animal is studying those around liim in order to 
prepare some freak of self-will. A proverb tells us 
not to trust to the horse who shows the white of 
the eye. The reason is that he shows the white of 
the eye when looking sideways, and he is intent 
on seizing the moment when no attention is being 
paid to him, for escape or attack. 

Looking or bending the head round towards 
the stable denotes an idea, desire, or intenti(m of 
going there; swinging the croup round signifies 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 83 

the desire to kick; pricking up the ears forward, 
I raising" the head, relaxing speed during motion proves 
'he is experiencing a sense of fear. 

Turbid eyes indicate fear or auger. In a vicious 
horse the glance is usually restless and has a some- 
what sinister and peculiar intentness, as in criminals. 

Unsteady eyes with signs of fear signify that he 
has been ill-treated, that he expects to be ill-treated 
and that he is in continual apprehension of being 
ill-treated. Looking ahead, paying attention to some- 
thing in front and giving some start of surprise, 
whilst slackening the pace, means that he appre- 
hends meeting with some object of fear or danger. 
Looking backwards or running forward denote an 
apprehension that an object of fear or danger may 
come from behind. On many occasions when he 
desires to do something, he first observes whether 
liis rider is paying attention to him. 

The ears are a faithful index to his mind. When 
pricked forw ajid^tlTey denote his apprehension of en- 
countering or seeing an object of fear in front. Turned 
backwards they are intent upon any noise or ap- 
prehended object of fear which may come from 



34 THE MIND. OF THE HORSE 

beliiiid, and even upon tlie man mountiiifi: or dri- 
ving him. 

Ear.s depressed backwards signify: a sensation 
of tickling; objection to being approached; fear of 
man and expectation of ill-treatment; a disposition 
to kick or bite; objection to being approached by 
any other horse and intention to kick at him. This 
sign precedes or accompanies kicking, pawing or 
biting. His looking and directing the ears tovrards 
an obstacle whilst being guided towards it means 
that he intends springing over it, that he is con- 
sidering how to prepare for springing over it and 
liow he may arrive with accelerated speed at a 
Xiroper distance for jumping over it. This is hoAvever 
not a certain sign that he Avill jump over, as on 
approaching he may be impressed with the idea of 
not being capable of doing it. Mobility of the ears, 
one forward and the other backwards was regarded 
by horsemen of the sixteenth century as a special 
sign of viciousness and evil intentions and as pre- 
ceding some freak of self-^vill. 

Tlie liorse neighs in all tones and each tone has 
a special significance. He neighs in order to attract 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 35 



ifche attention of and to call any other horse whose 
footsteps he may hear; he neighs on seeing the stable 
representing his home, food and drink, or because 
he is linugTy or thirsty whilst he is in the stall; he 
neighs from impatience if he is tethered and would 
like to be free, to join other horses. Sometimes he 
snorts from fear or from anger on being punished 
with the spurs or on smelling decaying substances. 

Swishing the tail from one side to the other is 
in some horses and mares caused by the action of 
the riders' legs and spurs and is an ugly thing to 
see; in other horses it indicates an excited condition 
of the bladder, or hysterical excitement and may 
be a sign of a desire to kick: in some few horses 
it also signifies self-will and a desire to jib or refuse. 

The tail when depressed is an index of fear of 
punishment, dread of objects touching him, bad 
breed, or a sensation of cold. A drooping tail is a 
sign of fatigue. Good carriage of the tail whilst in 
motion is a sign of good breed. It may also be the 
result of excitement or fear. 

When the hair of the coat rises it is a sign of 
cold or illness. Trembling is indicative of great 



36 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

fear. He trembles on perceiving the odonr of wild 
beasts. From all these signs, if they have been stu- 
died, it is possible to understand Avhat the horse 
thinks and foresee what he may desire to do, and 1 
jjrevent it. 



Signs of a desire to perform certain movements 

inferred from his attitudes 

and the positions he assumes. 

For making all his movements he first needs 
to prepare his body by adopting suitable positions. 
Therefore on seeing him take up a given preparatory 
position, eorresponding to a certain given acti(m it 
is possible to infer the movement he desires to make. 
When standing firmly with body upright and not 
inclined in any direction and ^vith all four Ivv:^ 
equally straight he cannot move them. If lie desires 
to paw with one leg he inclines his body to the 
other side and backwards. When he desires to kick 
he inclines his body very much forward and thro^vs 
the weight of his body on the fore legs so as to 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 37 

1 leave the hind legs free. In order to bite a man 
standing at his side he faces round towards him. 

In order to swerve and turn back he lowers the 
ijfore part of his body, bending his head and neck 
I towards the object inspiring him with fear, and 
then swerves to the other side. In order to perform 
any independent movement while in motion, he re- 
quires first to slacken his speed and get out of 
hand. 

When he makes these preparations it means that 
he is intent on getting ready to perform these 
actions. 

If he stops, sets his feet squarely and stands 
lirmly, he desires to rear, if he has ever done so 
before. 

If he experiences fear whilst he is in motion 
he goes erect and excited. According to a po]3ular 
saying a horse that is afraid grows bigger. 

Restlessness and a desire to run away are indi- 
cative of excitement, fear of man, dread or displea- 
sure at being left alone. 

Pawing indicates impatience, disobedience, ar^ 
dour or bad temj)er. 



38 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

A sudden leap forward witliout apparent cause 
means that tlie liorse remembers liayino' been fre- 
quently ill-treated unexpectedly from behind a\ ithout 
reason. 

A desire to kick or bite the man that approa- 
ches him, when it is not due to a vicious cliaracter, 
denotes that he has been ill-treated by the man 
Avho approached him before. 

To slacken motion and arch the back indicate 
a desire to jump or otter resistance. 

Raising ihe head and neck, throwing himself 
back on his haunches and snorting indicate wonder, 
fear or a belief that he is in danger. 

Depressing the tail may mean a desire to kick 
or sensation of fear or cold. 

Kicking backAvards when he is wearing blinkers 
indicates that he is afraid of what is behind him 
and does not mind exeu hurting himself. 

If he is afraid of an object towards which he 
is guided he holds himself back, turns the head 
and neck towards it and swerves, looking at the 
object and not looking where he is going to. 

Excitement, nervousness, restlessness, tlic impos- 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 39 

sibility of keej)ing him quiet by the conciliating 
voice when hokling him on foot with the bridle or 
cavesson means that he did not trust the man who 
first had charge of him, that that man ill-treated 
him, or else that he has an excessively nervous 
or excitable nature or experiences great fear. 

When the horse appears intent in thought it 
means that he is meditating making reactions or 
that he has some disease. If he shows pleasure from 
being caressed it means that he is not ill-disposed 
and if he does not show pleasure from it, it signi- 
fies that he is in opposition and must not be tru- 
sted or that he is not accustomed to being caressed 
and does not care about it. 

His attention is directed to only 
one tiling at a time. 

There are some horses who are not attentive, 
but most of them observe all that is going on around 
them. I remember a horse who gave signs of obser- 
ving the change of place of a wren in a hedge. 

Usually the horse is attentive to one thing at 
a time. This gives us a means of conquering him 



10 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

by employing- yarioUvS aids and punishments simul 
taneously. To defend oneself against a dog and 
preyent attack we need one stick to keep liim occu- 
pied and another stick to strike liim. He pays at- 
tention to the stick held before him and in the 
meantime he can be attacked with the otlier stick. 
This is the secret of Balassa' s method of teaching 
horses to allow themselyes to be sliod by Ivceping 
them occupied with the cayesson and not alh»wing 
them to pay attention to the man lifting and hol- 
ding their foot. 

Thiuf/s he umlersianih naturally and which have 
mfluenee ujjon him. 

A horse of a really yicious nature does not 
allow himself to be affected either by good treat- 
ment or by punishment, and only yields to actual 
physical force and compulsion, and tlien only for 
so long as it lasts. For this reason the really yicious 
horse cannot be trained and cannot be used for 
riding. 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 41 



Tlie liorse who is not vicious likes to be treated 
well, and yood treatment influences him to obe- 
dience and forms a means of mastering him. Ca- 
resses on the eyes and on the occiput have a parti- 
cular effect like magnetism. Tliey liave the effect of 
quieting and of inspiring trust in us. 

A good influence over the horse may be obtain- 
ed by means of a conciliating, long-drawn and 
sonorous voice sound which has a soothing effect. It 
is made Avith a long drawn out oil! A loud, short, 
abrupt and angry voice sound produces the effect of 
a threat and keeps him from desiring to make a 
movement which is not proper or which it is not 
desired he should do. It is made with a short 
narrow eli ! Needless to say voice sounds should be 
avoided except in training. 

Our glance fixed continually on liis eye besides 
discerning his intentions keeps him attentive and 
respectful and he understands (though not so well 
as the dog) whether it is a benevolent look meant 
to soothe him or a menacing one to produce an 
impression upon him and prevent him from doing- 
some action. He must always be looked at. The 



42 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

dog keeps his eye fixed upon the eyes of the game 
and we must do the same as regards the horse. So 
long as our eyes are fixed on him lie generally 
does not seek to attack, if he is not exceptionall}^ 
vicious. Looking fixedly at an unknown dog or at 
bulls and wild beasts produces the contrary efl'ect, 
acting as provocation and arousing them to anger. 
For this reason they must not be looked at but must 
be passed as far as possible without attention, and 
witiiout running or making unexpected conspicuous 
movements which might call their attention to us. 

The horse understands the quieting and the 
threatening gesture. After having lost the fear of 
man he becomes sensitive to caresses; they form a 
pleasure for him and he allows himself to be 
reassured by them; they have great eifect in sooth- 
ing him. Caresses above the eyes and on the top 
of the head in particular, have a conciliative and 
as it were a magnetic influence. They quiet the 
animal, induce in him a state of pleasant drowsiness 
and inspire him with aftection for us. 

The companionship of another horse, or the sight 
of another horse going into the water or passing 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 



near an object of fear is the best means of per- 
suading bini to do likewise and the best method 
of removing fear when others fail. 

The iron cavesson which is made to work by 
the lounge has the greatest effect upon the horse if 
his nature is not incurably refractory, as the blow 
on the nose is transmitted to the brain. This pro- 
duces an impression upon him because it gives a 
shock to the brain, which is the seat of ideas and 
Avill, and because it prevents him from turning his 
croup to us and attacking us with his heels, and 
because he cannot free himself from our restraining 
power hy running away. 

He understands naturally threatening gestures 
and punishments and is afraid of them; menacing 
him with the whip by showing it to him and stri- 
king him with it, stimulates him to motion and 
causes him to run in the direction opposite to that 
whence he is threatened or struck. Threats, aids 
and punishments with the whip employed at a 
suitable moment are of great value ; they result in 
giving him the idea that we are superior to him 
and this effect is so much the greater if it is asso- 



44 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

dated with the aids of the cavesson hy means of the 
lounge. \ 

Preventiiiii' liim from followiii.i>- liis own impul- 
ses in wliatever manner it is done has great in- 
fluence in giving him the idea of our superiority * 
and therefore of the necessity of obedience. Work 

proportionate to liis food and strength has an excel- 

I 

lent influence in preventing the horse from becoming 
too full of spirits, rendering him quieter and less 
susceptible to fear, and allowing him to gain strength. 

A bad influence is exercised on the horse by ' 
fear with which he is sometimes completely over- 
powered so as to give no heed to aids or punish- ! 
ments ; by the lack of exercise and the consequent 
excessive exuberance of spirits by reason of which 
he feels the need to prance and jump and pays no 
attention to man, having no respect for him under 
the excitement of this need; by the bad treatment 
which gives rise to aversion and anger, working 
confusion in his mind and causing him to play the 
worst tricks of self-will; by the stimulus of the 
procreative instinct when he experiences and is 
overpowered by it. 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 45 



He must be diverted from yielding to these 
feelings by means of aids or punishments and his 
anger must be removed by caressing him and speak- 
ing to him in a soothing voice and transferring 
him to another place, as while he is imder their 
sway it will be impossible to do anything with him. 

Effect of good treatment on Ms nature. 

The conciliating voice, the kind look and cares- 
ses give him pleasure and have the effect of quieting 
him, of inspiring confidence in us and make him 
disposed to obedie^nce. To give him oats is to form 
anotlier good association for ourselves in his mind 
making him desire our presence, which becomes 
agreeable to him. It is advisable to give him a few 
liandfiils in the riding school when he is first taken 
tlierc as it puts him in a good frame of mind and 
he goes there readily. He would acquire repugnance 
for the riding school if he were ill-treated the first 
time lie went there. 

The beneficial effect of good treatment is to 
prompt and induce him to make the movements 



46 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

we desire liim to perform. Good treatment fm-ther 
serves the purpose of showing him that he does 
well to make the movement he is making if it is 
the one he is required to perform. To make the 
horse well disposed towards us and teach him to 
he giad on seeing us and to love us is the first 
thing to be done to the end of inducing him to 
do as we desire. 

Effect of punishment. 

The fact of our being able to inspire the horse 
with a feeling of obedience results from the plea- 
sure he experiences from good treatment but also 
largely from the displeasure, fear and pain he suf- 
fers from punishment, from which lie receives the 
idea of our superiority. For this reason the vicious 
horse, who pays no attention to these tAvo kinds 
of treatment, is not susceptible of training. 

All the various punishments applied for and 
associated with an action performed by the horse 
serve to show disapproval of it, serve to tell the 
horse not to do it, as they make him see that per 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 47 



forming this action brings him pnnishment, i. e. 
pain, and this gives him the idea of not performing 
the action so as to avoid receiving pain. The special 
effect of the aids and punishments serving to excite 
him to motion are the principal means of instruction 
las by their help it becomes possible to collect him 
and get him in hand and thus to master him. The 
term imnwliment includes threats. Threats are pu- 
nishments in a weak dei^ree. 

Punishment produces both fear and aversion and 
[jas aversion impairs the harmony which should exist 
Ibetween the horse and man, soon after the punish- 
jment has been administered, and sometimes almost 
j immediately after, it should be counteracted and 
■i effaced from the horse' s memory by the conciliating 
'voice and by caresses. This must be done with 
il special attention to the particular nature of the iiorse. 

How to act on his mind and feelings. 

I 

The mind and feelings of the horse may be 
I 
[acted upon by giving him sensations and associa- 

itions with things calculated to call forth in him 



48 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

the ideas of the movements we wish to teach him 
to do and calculated to induce him to do them 
in the manner stated in the chapter Hoiv the horse 
learns and how he must be taught. In that chapter 
it is also explained how he is induced not to per- 
form the movements he wonld like to make but 
which we do not desire him to make. The means 
to be employed for acting upon his mind are those 
stated in the paragraph Thinffs exercisinc/ an influence 
upon the horse, and all the aids and punishments. 



Individual qualities and character. 

Santapaulina (seventeenth century) was the first 
to distinguish and classify the various characters 
of the horse and to observe tliat in training horses 
they must be treated diiferently according to their 
dili'erent dispositicms. He established the fact of the 
combined occurrence of the following qualities and 
of their opposites: strong — light — good heart — 
sensitive: n-eah — heavg — had heart — dull. By 
sensitive he means a Just degree both of feeling 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 49 



and of intelligence; by dull lie means little sensi- 
Jtive and little intelligent. 

ji This classification is a good one, but it is ge- 
-j neric and comprehends the material qualities of 
j the horse. As in this chapter I am speaking only 
j of the mental qualities I think it more logical to 

I restrict myself to them and to leave out the question 

II of bodily constitution. 

With regard to his various mental qualities the 
horse may be more or less intelligent, may have 
more or less memory, may be a more or less atten- 
tive observer with greater or less cunning and 
acuteness; he may possess a greater or lesser degree 
of excitability to motion and his nature may be 
more or less goDd, timid, courageous, irritable or 
bad. These qualities vary in degree in ditlerent 
horses. 

What is meant by character or disposition are: 
the qualities of the will, the particular degrees of 
sensibility and the various passions which sway the 
individual and actuate him, sucli as timidity, su- 
sceptibility to fear, readiness in surrendering to the 
will of others, resoluteness or determination to have 



50 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

Ills own way and not to yield to the will of others, 
anger wliieU makes him resent being touched, or 
respond rebelliously to the actions of others towards 
himself; the feeling of viciousness or aggressiveness; 
the excess of physical sensibility in any part of the 
body, or sensitiveness of the month; the sensation 
of tickling, and excitement induced by the sj)urs; 
the excess of excitability to motion owing to which 
he always desires to run and break away; the ex- 
cessive feeling of fear or dread owing to which he 
is always in great apprehension. 

The w liole of tliese qualities of the will together 
^v ith the degree of individual sensibility constitutes 
tlie individual character or disposition in various 
liorses, wliich may be more or less timid, good, 
subject to fear, bold, choleric, vicious. 

Gaiety and melancholy also influence their na- 
ture and are qualities which contribute to forming 
tlie disposition. Writers in the sixteenth century 
regarded gaiety as an advantage, for they coined 
a proverb attributing cheerfulness as a good quality 
to the Jiorse and melancholy to the dog. They re- 
garded melancholy as a bad quality as they thought 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 51 

tliey liad perceived that m melancholy horse was 
also inclined to an.i»er. Horses of different disposi- 
tion require correspondingly varyinii^ treatment in 

i training. 

The qualities of bodily structure i. e. lightness 
or heaviness, may he seen on inspecting x\ie horse 

(at rest. But all the other qualities and especially 
the mental ones, require some time to determine, 

land the horse must also be observed when ridden. 

I The character of some of them requires a greater 
length of time to be understood. 

Generallv horses are more or less timid and 

jgood and but rarely bad. i^n excess of nervous 

j excitability, which always keeps him in an excited 

! or convulsive condition resulting in a constant en- 
deavour to break away renders it impossible to master 

I the horse and makes him dangerous and therefore 
unsuited to the purpose of riding. Some of these 
nervous horses may be useful wlien employed alone 
and not in company with other horses by whom 
they are excited to run and break away. Others 
grow excited and break a^v ay only if made to gallop 
and should never be put to the gallop. Excessive 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 



susceptibility to fear is a great drawback to the j 
usefulness of a horse as he is ready to take fright 
at everything. t, 

To incur as little fatigue as possible is a general 
instinct, but laziness is particularly bad in a horse, 
as it is a negation of its essential quality, which 
is that of moying at the slightest instigation. 

The anger felt by some horses on the legs and ' 
spurs being applied is a great defect as it deprives 
us of a ready and convenient means of guidance. ^ 

There are strange and inconsistent horses just , 
as there are strange men who act in one way on 
one day and differently on the morrow. This may / 
be called a degree of insanity just as in man. The 
morose, moody or melancholy horse was in ill 
repute with the cavaliers of the sixteenth century 
as they thought him to be meditating attack and 
rebellicm. 

The horse may become bad owing to ill treat- f 
ment or because the man handling Iiim gave 
him opportunity for successful resistance and thus 
taught him his own strength and the possibility of 
his opj)osing man. 8uch a horse may have bis dis- ' 



TfiE MIND OF THE HORSE 53 

• position clianged if he is well treated and sees 

tliat he is prevented from having his own Avay and 

Ifrom rebelling, but generally it is a difficult thing 

!i|to get him to obey after lie has seen that he has 

been superior to man and has conquered him. He 

«lcan only forget his superiority to man after the 

i 

ilapse of a good deal of time during which he has 

i received judicious treatment. 

i The horse which has become bad owing to ill-treat- 

Iment is obstinate and makes reactions deliberately 

I even without being provoked and at times with 

•|the idea of injuring man, because he knoAvs by 

^1 experience that man is his enemy and that lie has 

conquered him. While being ridden he shows the 

more self-will if he has already noted that he has 

»' succeeded in throwing his rider, and he always 

I desires to do so. 

He may be bad in the stable owing to bad 

treatment or a bad disposition. The horse who is 

really bad by nature fears neither threats nor 

punishments and attacks deliberately, and man is 

unable to defend himself. It is useless running the 

risk of taking such an animal in hand as he is not 



54 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

suitable for the purpose of riding. It would be just 
the saiue as taking the murderer for one' s valet. 

Horses are usually more lively, more courageous, 
more apt to rear and jump, more wilful aiul 
less disposed to yield and to obey than mares. 
Mares are more inclined to throw up the croup 
and less to rear, are quieter, a])andon themselves 
more easily, are more readily mastered but also 
more subject to fear. If they are livsterical they 
are not tit for saddle or carriage use. In our c<mn- 
tries entires are in a state of continual excitement 
whicli does not allow of their yielding obedience. 
They are usually vicious and dangerous. 

The timid horse needs to be reassured by con- 
tinual caressing. Being of a pliant disposition he 
immediately feels the superiority of man and im- 
mediately surrenders to tlie will of man, o1)eying 
forthwith, and is likely to becpme a good and 
taithful servant, but requires to l^e well treated 
or lie will grow discouraged. He sutfers repeated 
punishment without a sign of resistance but is 
confused and stupelied by it. He is readily incli- 
ned to fear. 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 55 



The bold horse has not much respect for man. 
He must be made to feel his superiority by some 
punishment. The irritable or angry horse is excited 
by punishment. It calls forth opposition and resi- 
stance in him and obscures his mind or even makes 
him utterly reckless. The easily-angered horse requi- 
res good treatment and yery sparing punishment. 
In place of punishments threats should be employed 
and at times eyen these work harm. 

The domestically reared horse is usually docile, 
obeys and rarely offers oj)position, or he does it 
because man has proyoked him and has taught 
him to do so. The horse which has been reared 
wild, being used to liberty usually offers much 
greater opposition before obeying, and much grea- 
ter ability is required in dealing with him and 
approaching him. IS^atures so bad as to attack man 
without reason are of yery rare occurence in hor- 
ses. Still rarer is the case of horses other than 
entires, charging man. 



50 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

Thmys that somewhat modify his mental qualities 
and character. 

Instruction exercises and develops the mental 
qualities of tlie horse renderinii: them more apt 
and ready and making him obedient. A a^ood breed 
usually brings with it intellectual and physical 
qualities, sensibility and strength, in a greater degree 
than a common breed. An exception offered l)y 
some coniparatively good individual of a poorer 
breed does not alter the rule. A bad disposition is 
worse in the specimen of a good breed because he 
is more intelligent. 

The condition of wildness due to good feeding 
and lack of exercise results in a nervous restless- 
ness which is a disease and makes him more sen- 
sitive, more excitable, more inclined to oppose the 
orders of man, more suscei^tible of fear, more ready 
to injure man. 

The horse in a vigorous condition is more dispo- 
sed to resist our will than the weak horse. Work 
and little food make horses quiet and almost in 
sensible to our aids and to fear, and cover their 



THE MIND OF TflE HORSE 57 



vices, but these vices reappear if the horse is again 
given food and repose. Tliere is therefore a great 
difference between riding and guiding a well fed 
hor,se of a good breed and a tired and ordinary 
horse. This may be guided by a man who knows 
little, by a boy, although during a moment of 
fear even this horse may need to be held by a 
capable man. 

Sensibility also differs at the beginning of the 
work, A\hen the horse is well rested, and at the 
end of the work or of the journey when he is 
tired. Therefore the rider's aids and the method 
of guiding him must adapt themselves and be sui- 
ted to these changes of sensibility. In young horses 
a bad nature or habit may be somewhat modified 
but this is difficult in old horses. 

Certain mental qualities are generaUy cofq^led with 
certain physical ones. 

The light horse is usually of a sanguine and 
nervous temperament, ready in motion. The heavy 
horse is generally phlegmatic and slow to move. 



58 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

The reasons of this are to be found in the proge- 
nitors, climate and pasture. The offspring have 
usually in some degree tlic character of their sire 
and dam. Climate and pasture influence the body 
and the body influences the mental nature of the 
horse. The grass of moist plains makes the horse 
fat and this quality makes him slow to move. 
A dry climate giyes lean grass and makes the 
horse light and ready in motion. 

Aftacls of the horse cf gainst the man 

who grooms him. 
Caifscs — hoic they may he overcome. 

Tlie liorse may injure the man who grooms him 
by kicking, pawing and by biting. Pawing indi- 
cates a more yicious nature than kicking and bi- 
ting is still worse. He may attack in self defence 
if he is driven to bay by repeated and continual 
punisl linen ts and prevented from fleeing. 

Attacks on the man who grooms him indicate 
a still more angry and vicious nature than attempts 
against his rider. The timid horse flees if he can 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 59 



and defends himself only if unable to do so and 
after having been ill-treated for some time. The 
horse who is excited to defend himself or forced 
to do so by ill-treatment does it more or less well 
according to his degree of intelligence, cunning and 
strength. 

The horse that attacks man shows by it tliat 
he is his enemy. The reason for his being an enemy 
to man and attacking him may lie in his bad na- 
ture but fortunately this is rare. In general it is 
almost ab\ays due to his liaTing been ill-treated 
by man. His being ill-treated by man and thus 
provoked gives rise in him to the idea of defen- 
ding himself and he defends himself by attacking. 

Whether he will otfer attack depends upon his 
nature. The very timid horse owing to his great 
fear hardly defends himself, even if ill-treated very 
much and repeatedly. The spirited and angry horse 
attacks directly and powerfully. 

Usually on being attacked by the horse man 
is afraid and shows it by ceasing to ill-treat him, 
by withdrawing and escaj)ing, and the horse un- 
derstands that by attacking he causes the bad treat- 



(iO THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

ment of the man to cease and sees himself the 
conqueror of man, and if this is repeated a few 
times he acquires the habit of attacking whoever 
approaches him. 

The first time that the horse attacks man, if it 
is not due to a bad disposition, he has a reason, 
but after having done so he attacks even without 
motive, without provocation, solely owing to his 
remembering having been ill-treated and having 
rebelled. 

Many horses if they are not bad by nature or 
if this vice is incipient and not inveterate may be 
dissuaded from attacking by showing them that 
they are not ill-treated but on the contrary are 
treated well; by handling them in such a way as 
to avoid their attacks and thus show them that 
they do not succeed in injuring us; by giving them 
the idea of our superiority by means of actions of 
ours calculated to impress it upon them; by pre- 
venting their attacks and punishing them. The mere 
fear of punishment is eifective in bringing about 
a cessation of attacks in but few horses and it is 
requisite that good treatment should be the prin- 
cipal means. 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 61 

Many others having once found themselves su- 
perior to man and having seen their greater strength 
and the weakness of man can no longer be per- 
suaded to desist from attacks. In our countries 
entires are generally excited by their instincts to 
paAV and bite and are not susceptible of correction. 
Some are bad even though not entires but these are 
rare. Many horses attack if no attention is paid to 
them and do not attack if they are being obser^^ed. 
Others attack heeding neither menaces nor punish- 
ment. 

Oppofsitions and reactions against man and rider; 
causes; hoir then matj J)e overcome. 

The horse offers opposition to man and to the 
rider by not doing what the man or the rider re- 
quires him to do and by desiring to carry out his^ 
oA\n impulses against the will of man or the rider. 
These oppositions consist in the wish of the horse 
to have his own way; to stoj) and not to go any 
further when the man or the rider requires him 
to go on ; to refuse to turn Avhen man or the rider 



62 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

requires him to turn; or to desire to turn aside or 
backward when man or the rider does not wish it. 

By the term muMng reactions I understand the 
counter-actions of the horse with which he responds 
to the actions of the man or rider, that is to say, 
to their aids and punishments. 

The reactions of the horse against his rider 
consist in rearing, throwing up the croup, jumping, 
bucking, running away. 

If he reacts against the aids only and not against 
the punishments, the degree of mental opposition 
is not great, but it is great if he reacts against the 
punishments. These reactions may be carried out 
with more or less strength and cunning or even 
^vith the purpose of throA^ing or injuring the rider. 

Oppositions and reactions indicate that the horse 
does not feel obedience to man or rider or feels 
enmity. This may arise from many reasons. From 
not desiring to advance ; from his having no respect 
for the aids and punishments employed to make 
him advance; from fear of objects; owing to the 
fault of the man or of the rider. Also from injuries 
to his nioutli caused by the hand; from choleric 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 63 



disj)osition : most of all from having been ridden 
or used before lie has been taught obedience with 
rational instruction. 

The horse begins to make a reaction and learns 
to make many reactions from the incapacity or 
impotence of the rider who tries to punish him 
and to conquer him and instead is conquered. 

The proper aids and punishments given at the 
right moment and with the strength required by 
the nature of each individual will overcome oppo- 
sitions and reactions in those horses that obey them. 

The oppositions and reactions of those horses 

which do not much mind punishments may be 

,| overcome, when they are not of a bad disposition, 

jiif we can get them to respond to them and go 

J forward decidedly by means of instruction with the 

i 

i lounge. 

When they obey the aids and punishments for 
II setting them in motion and the aids of the hands, 
we can prevent them from putting their bodies in 
the preparatory positions necessary for making reac- 
tions and therefore thev cannot make them. 



64 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 



Sjiecial ajititudes. 

Every horse according t<^) his mental nature, 
sensibility, intelligence and his physical qualities, 
is more or less adapted to a particular use or em- 
ployment. The employment must be suited to the 
physical and moral qualities of the horse, and it 
must not be sought to adapt the horse to an em- 
ployment unsuitable for liim. If the light horse is 
put to pull a heavy car he will be unable to do 
good service, and will suffer. It is possible to em- 
ploy the heavy horse as a saddle liorse, but he is 
not adapted for it whilst on the other hand the 
light and agile horse is well suited. 

Importance of a good disposition and good mental 

qualities in the liorse 

for Ms instruction and his serviceableness. 

Among the- good mental qualities of the horse, 
the most important is a good disposition, as by 
means of this the horse gives in to us immediately, 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 65 



resigns himself to obedience forthwith, and is con- 
trolled by the aid of this feeling of obedience. The 
body or mechanism of the horse renders us service 
jif the horse's mind directs it to do so. It is im- 
I possible to obtain service from the body if the 
mind is unwilling to command it. A good will or 
j a good disposition is the first quality required to 
j obtain useful service from the horse, as in order 
,j to render this service he must be allowed freedom ; 
j he cannot do it like a galley slave with the hands 
|! whilst his feet are fettered. 

If he is well disposed and obedient, and willing 
\ by nature, he will serve us of his own accord, even 
if the structure of his body is such as not to allow 
of his being collected and thus actually coerced 
to do so. If he has a bad disposition, even the 
various coercive means will not avail to render 
him serviceable, owing to his unwillingness. 

With a bad disposition all the other good qua- 
lities of agility, strength, and power of resistance 
remain useless to us as he will - not place them at 
our service. A horseman of little ability is safe 
upon a horse of a good disposition, and a horse- 



66 THE MIND OF THE HORSE 

mail of great ability is in continuous danger on a ' 
bad natnred horse. 

The second ifood quality is his ^villinfi^ness io 

1 
move, his adYancing or moving in response to the 

slightest aids. Locomotion is almost everything in 
the horse, as in this lies his serviceableness, and 
motion is necessary in order to put him in a good 
position and collect him so that lie may be me- 
chanically controlled. 

Idleness is the negation of all this and of the ^ 
essential quality of the horse. It is at times due i 
to weakness and to insufficient food. If due to tliis 
cause the horse on first starting lets us see that 
he would be willing to go, although he grows 
rapidly fatigued. 

It is also necessary that he should duly feel 
aids and punishments, as these are the only means 
we have of acting upon him. I say duly because 
if he feels them too much, that is if their action 
upon him is in morbid excess they cannot be used 
as they would make him run avv ay, and if he feels 
them too little they are of no a^ail. Great timi- 
dity and fear are a grave inconAenience and a hin- 



THE MIND OF THE HORSE 67 

(Irance to usei'iilness. A certain Just decree of cou- 
rtage is a good quality in a horse. With it lie can, 
if necessary, be made to go into danger, because 
he will be able to come out of it. The more in- 
telligence and memory the horse possesses, the bet- 
ter he vriU be able to learn, remember and exe- 
cute what he is taught. 



p^^^^^=^^^=p=^^^=^=^=p^=p^ 



HOW THE HOKSE LEARNS 
AOT) HOW HE MUST BE TAUGHT 



Memarle. Vague and erroneous ideas are gene- 
rally held as to the method of treating horses. Ri- 
ders are often observed to require their horses to 
perform an action, whilst themselves doing that 
which is suited to induce their horses to do the 
contrary. 

In order to obtain what is desired from hor- 
ses, they must be treated logically in accordance 
with their nature and intelligence, and in order to 
be able to deal with them logically it is necessary 
to know their nature, and to understand how they 
learn. From acquaintance with their nature, and 
from knowing how they learn we come to under- 



HOW THE HOESE LEARNS 69 

stand hoAv they must be taught those things which 
it is desired they shoukl learn. 

Their mental character is narrated in the pre- 
ceding chapter, and how they learn is explained 
in this. 

How the horse learns. 

Everyone has learnt that after the lightning 
comes the thunder, because with the idea of light- 
ning he has associated the idea of the thunder, 
which immediately followed the lightning. It is in 
this way, by means of the association of the idea 
of one thing, which is called forth in him by a 
sensation, with another idea, called forth in him 
by another sensation, that the horse and all other 
animals learn. The idea of thunder was associated 
with the idea of lightninf/. The idea of the thunder 
is the idea learnt, and the idea of the lightning 
is that which has taught the idea of the thunder. 

Horses do not understand words, but they un- 
derstand the sound of the words which has been 
repeatedly associated with the movements they were 



to HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

required to do. Tliey more on tlie order marcJ), 
because after the sonnd of tliis word they ^\ere 
constantly made to advance, and therefore with 
the sound of this word they associated the idea of 
motion. They stop at the command ludt, because 
on tlie sound of halt, they were constantly stopi^ed, 
and with the sound of lidlt they associated the action 
of stopping. 

They understand that it is intended to give them 
oats from seeing in hand the oat sieve in which 
they were usually given them because they have 
associated the giving of oats with the taking in 
liand of the sieve. Thus willi tlie action of taking 
hold of tlie ))ucket, they have associated the idea 
of drinking, and they neigh if they are thirsty. 
Thus they understand the bugle call, Avhicli precedes 
their being fed, because having been constantly fed 
after the bugle call they have associated the ])eing 
fed Avith the sound of the bugle. 

Learning by associati(ni extends, acc(n-ding to 
the degree of intelligence and of individual memory 
of the liorse, to the more or less minute or con- 
spicuous circumstances of actions, objects, places, 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 11 

and time (or succession) av liicli accompany, or which 
are associated with an action or a deed, and which 
made an impression on tlieir senses of sii^ht, hear- 
ing, toucli and smell. This learning is easier if 
the actions or the circumstances which are asso- 
ciated with the thing to he learnt are more con- 
spicuous, and therefore make a greater impression 
and if they are. associated with a pleasure or a pain. 

We liaA e also learnt tlu^ reason why the thunder 
is caused by the lightning, but the horse cannot 
attain to this. He stops at the mere association, at 
the simple fact of the two things being associated 
with each other and very often erroneously thinks 
that of the two things, however associated, one is 
tlie cause of the other, although it is not. 

If he is afraid of an object and refuses to pass 
it, and is therefore punished, he associates the 
punishment with the object Avhicli inspires him 
witli fear, and on seeing anew the object which 
made him afraid, expects to be punished again, 
because he has associated the punishment with that 
oliject, and believes the object to be the cause of 
the pimishment. Owing to having been beaten in 



72 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

face of till object wliicli inspired him witli fear, 
lie believes the object of fear to be the cause of 
the punishiiieiit, and thinks that the re-appearance 
of the object before his eyes will cause the re-ap- 
pearance of the punishment likewise. Thus by ha- 
ving beaten him in front of an object of which 
he was afraid, he has been inspired with a second 
fear, that of punishment. 

The horse is not capable of distinguishing that 
he was punished because he would not pass the 
object, and not because he was afraid. He may get 
to understand that he is punished because he will 
not pass an object, which awakens fear, after having 
been made to pass many times by caresses near 
many other objects of which he was afraid, but this 
must not be relied on, because the idea of fleeing 
the object which makes him afraid is natural to 
him, and this idea may be stronger than any other, 
and dominate him. 

In general the mere association and the mere 
occurrence of one or more circumstances together 
with some thing or action done to him, or acci- 
dentally happening to him, is regarded as a cause 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 73 



by liim. The object that awakens fear in him is 
considered by him to be the cause of the punish- 
ments wliich are inflicted upon him in face of that 
object. In instructing horses careful attention must 
be paid to the fact that they always regard as the 
cause of a thing, another thing associated, no matter 
how, although it may not be the true cause. 



How he rememhers. 

We need many repetitions in order to remember 
the associations we have experienced because we 
are occupied and distracted by many ideas. The 
mental world of the horse is limited to the ideas 
of his surroundings, of what he sees and hears, of 
what is taught him, of what he has acquired the 
habit of doing, to the ideas which are suggested to 
him by the necessity of satisfying his material 
wants, his instincts, and to the place in which he 
is living. 

Generally the horse is attentive to and observes 
all the objects which surround him and all that 



74 'HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

liappens around him, and well remembers the im- 
pressions and associations he experienced from them 
proportionately to the decree of tlieir intensity. He 
remembers particuhirly well those places, those oc- 
currences, those things and those circumstances, 
with which were associated objects or facts from 
which lie experienced good or evil, or which gave 
him the sentiment of fear, as it is his instinct to 
seek pleasure and Hee pain and tlee that which 
inspires him with fear, and these things make the 
greatest impression on him. 

He remembers the road that leads homewards, 
i. e. to his stable, and for this reason he goes more 
willingly on returning than on leaying home. The 
post horse goes straight along his road and pays 
little attention to the things that he sees because 
lie knows that his road leads to his stable and is 
intent on running in order to arrive at the stable ; 
he is less susceptible to fear on his own road than 
on another which he does not know. 

If he has been caressed and had oats given him 
in any place, he returns to it very willingly as he 
expects to receive these things anew. If after having 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 



performed a movement Avliicli lie lias been tangiit 
to make, he was caressed and ii:iYen oats, lie is 
incited to do it onee more as he expects anew ca- 
resses and oats after having* done it. If during a 
jonrney he was stopped at a place and given food, 
on passing there again he stops of his own aecord 
hecansc he recalls to niiiul fm' association of rest 
and food with which the place is connected. 

Immediately after Darius had agreed with the 
Satraps liis eomi)anions, that the horse which first 
neighed shonld decide who should be king, he sent 
his horse to the place agreed upon the day before, 
and tlieie made him encounter a mare. On the 
following (lay on arriving at the j)lace agreed upon, 
his horse neighed forthwith because he reinembered 
tlie nuire he liad seen there the day liefore. 

The first time that preparations are nnide to 
give medicine to the horse, he remains quiet be- 
cause he does not know what is being prepared for 
iiini, but the second time he grows extremely exci- 
ted and rebellious as soon as he sees the bottle 
brought out. The bottle became associated with 
the medicine which he was forced to take. 



76 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

He remembers the places and circumstances in 
wliicli he was punished or ill-treated, and on seeing 
them again, remembers the punishments associated 
with them and becomes apprehensive of fresh pu- 
nishment and may show oppositions or reactions. 
If he was ill-treated in the vicinity of some object, 
on seeing it again he expects to be ill-treated afresh. 
Eor this reason he does not wish to go to the far- 
rier if he was ill-treated by him or by others at 
the forge and does not wish to allow himself to 
be shod if he was once ill-treated whilst being 
shod. For this reason also he will not raise his foot 
if he Avas ill-treated whilst being forced to raise it. 
If he was beaten while hearing some noise or 
sound or immediately after, he is so much the more 
afraid when he hears that noise again because he 
remembers the ill-treatment associated with it. 

He well remembers the actions he was able to 
carry out of his own will in any given place or 
any given circumstances, and on being anew in 
the same position desires to carry them out. If 
while in the stall he succeeded in getting loose, 
lie seeks to do so every now and again. If after 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 77 



j^etting loose he found the place where the hay or 
oats were kept, he seeks to get loose every now 
and again in order to go back there and eat. If 
passing along the road which he knows leads to 
his stable, he has succeeded in going there against 
the will of the man, when he reaches the point 
where he has been able to do so once he always 
wishes to go there. 

If in a given place or from a given object the 
idea of fear was suggested to him and he was able 
to swerve or turn back, he always wishes to turn 
back on that spot or on seeing that object again. 
He wishes to swerve again and turn back because 
he had been able to do so, because the idea and 
remembrance of his liaving been able to do so re- 
mained with him. For this reason it is of the ut- 
most importance to prevent the horse from doing 
as lie would like and to give him no opportunity 
for doing so. 

The memory of the associations already expe- 
rienced is in some horses extraordinary. Horses 
have been seen to recognise the road along which 
they have passed once only, and that a long time 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 



before. Horses have been observed to be ill-treated 
by a luau once only and a long time after recog- 
nise bini and run towards him to avenge them- 
selves. 

Some, if they have had p. powerful impression 
of fear under certain circumstances, have the idea 
of fear suggested to them even under circumstan- 
ces not identical but having some resemblance with 
the former. On many occasions the idea of fear 
returns to them even without motive if the fear 
they experienced was great, because owing to its 
having been great it returns to their minds even 
without external circumstances recalling it to them. 

How he judges. 

The horse forms his judgments from the good 
and evil he receives through his mental associations. 

He Judges to be good, i. e. beneficial to him, that 
with which was associated the satisfaction of his 
needs or a pleasure. 

He judges to be had or an evil for him that 
with which was associated the prevention of the 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 79 

satisfaction of his natural wants or which gives 
him sensation of uneasiness, pain or fear. 

He judges in this way because it is an in- 
stinctive law with all animals that they should 
seek pleasure, i. e. things which procure them sen- 
sations of pleasure and allow them to satisfy their 
natural wants — which satisfaction is accompanied 
by a sensation of pleasure — and should flee pain, 
i. e. flee the things which give them sensations of 
uneasiness, real physical pain or fear, which are 
accompanied by a sensation of displeasure or pain, 
and those which prevent them from satisfying their 
nntural and instinctive wants. 

These are the criteria of his judgments. He jud- 
ges (food the man who gives him food and drink 
and caresses him and is useful to hin^i in any way 
and - gives hiiii pleasure, and he loves and wishes 
for that man. He judges h((d the man who pre- 
vents him from satisfying his natural wants, Avho 
ill-treats him and gives him associations of pain, 
and he dislikes him, seeks to flee liim if he is timid 
and to resist and attack liim if he is spirited. 

From this fact arises the necessity for us, if we 



80 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

desire to derive utility from the horse, to treat him 
well, to associate good treatment with our persons 
so that he may get the idea that we are a benefit 
to him, and that he may come to and remain wil- 
lingly with us. This predisposes and persuades him 
to obedience, renders his mastery easy, and dimi- 
nishes his susceptibility to the feeling of fear, as, 
never having been rendered afraid by us by bad 
treatment, he takes fright less readily at the objects 
he does not know, and more easily overcomes and 
gets rid of such fear, if it has arisen, on our ca- 
ressing him, and this is a great advantage as the 
horse is so prone to fear 

Oood and had associations. 

As has been said the horse deems good those 
things with wliicli is associated a pleasure for him, 
and deems had the things with which is associated 
a pain or threat of pain or fear. In this respect 
we have it within our power to give the horse 
good or bad associations, i. e. associations of plea- 
sure or pain, but Ave should give good associations 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 81 

or tlio8c of pleasure to the tilings we desire him to 
do, so tliat lie may be induced tu do them, and 
we should ,i»iYe bad associations or those of displea- 
sure and pain to those things which he does and 
we do not wish him to do, so that he may be in- 
duced not to do them. 

In order t() render it easy for us to teach and 
for the horse to learn, we should first and foremost 
giye him f/ood associations with ourselyes in relation 
to him by treating him well, so as to dispose him 
to give us liis attention and so that his will may 
he In-ought to do what we desire, and we shouhl 
ayoid treating him hadJj/ so that he should not 
take a dislike to us and hate us and become op- 
posed to us, and rcyolt against us. 

If we treat him well, if we caress him, if we 
give him something to eat which he likes, we in 
his mind associate with our person the idea of being 
a benefit to him, he learns not to fear us, to re- 
main with us willingly, he acquires confidence in 
us and becomes disposed to obey us. 

If we illtreat him, we associate in his mind 
with our person an idea of eyil to him, we give 



6 



82 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

him the idea of aversion to us, of fleeing from us, I 
of hatred, of resisting us as enemies and of attack- J 
ing us. 

'\ 

Associations which increase fear and associations 
ivhich diminish it. 

If an object gives rise in the horse to the ideai 
of fear, the feeling of fear and therefore the idea) 
of fleeing from it, these ideas always remain asso-i 
ciated with the object of fear and on seeing the i 
object of fear again, these ideas revive. If whilst, 
the object calls forth in the horse the idea of fear, i 
the feeling of fear and the idea of fleeing, we ill-i 
treat him and punish him, we cause the punish- 
ment to be associated in his mind Avith the object 
of fear, and the sight of the object of fear again, 
in addition to reviving the fear, calls forth in him 
again the apprehension of being once more ill-treated 
and punished. By associating the punishment with 
the object of fear, the fear of the object has been 
increased and another fear has been given him, the 
fear of punishment. 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 83 

If whilst he sees the object of fear and has re- 
called to mind the idea of fear of it, no harm is 
done to him, and he is caressed with soothing words, 
and we put ourselves between him and the object 
of fear, the association of these good offices tends 
to diminish the fear and inspire him with courage. 
Placing our person between the horse and the 
object of fear produces on him the impression as 
of defending him from the object of fear. If con- 
stantly, on seeing objects which inspire him with 
fear, these good offices are applied, and these good 
associations given him, the horse in time is brought 
to think that he is not right to be afraid as these 
objects do him no harm but cause him good. This 
tells us how we ought to treat feav in horses and 
in all animals. 

Associations calculated to show the horse 

our superioritp and to teach him ohedience, 

and associations which maJce the horse 

understa7id his strength and teach him disobedience. 

In our dealings with the horse the acts we per- 
form towards him and the acts he performs, give 



84 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

liim associations fayourable either to his being obe- 
dient or to his being disobedient. I 

All our actions and all those acts which compel 
the liorse to do what v, e wish or prevent him from 
doing what he would wish, give liim associations 
suited to teach him obedience. 

All our actions, all those deeds on our part [ 
which allow the horse to do what lie wishes, which 
do not succeed in preventing him from carrying 
out his desires, give him associations which teach 
him disobedience. 

If the horse wishes to go to the stable and ^ve 
prevent him from going tliere, the association acqui- 
red by the horse from this fact is tliat we are 
superior to him, and tliat we have compelled him 
to yield his determination to ours, and he conse- 
quently acquires the idea of obedience to us. 

If the horse wishes to go to the stable and suc- 
ceeds in going thei'e notwithstanding our opposition, ' 
tlie association acquired by the horse from this fact 
is that he is superior to us, that he has been able 
to carry out his own desire in opposition to us, 
and he has acquired from it the idea of disobe- 
dience to us. 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 85 



As we are to command the horse, it should be 

seen that tlie associations obtained by the horse 

/from our actions and circumstances and things 

which happen to liim shouki be associations which 

Jteacli him obedience and not disobedience. 

j 
j 

I We must avoid (living the horse associations contrarij 

to our ptrrpose of controlliiui him, i. e. 

giving him associations irhich make him understand 

that he is stronger than ice are, 

that he can do as he wishes in o}jposition to our will, 

and which teach him disohedience. 

Our controlling power is an imaginarg power 

I and the horse can be Avitliliekl by it only for so 

jh)ng' as he believes it to be superior to him. Care 

Jl 

II must be taken to retain this imaginary power by 

,,not allowing ourselves to be overcome. We must 

I! 

be very careful to avoid guiding the horse or al- 

I'lowing him to come by chance into positi(ms and 

|i circumstances which may give him associations 

contrary to the mastery we should have over him, 

which might give him occasion to see and to un- 



86 HOW THE HORSE LEABNS 



derstaiid tliat he is stronger than ns on foot and 
when ridden, tliat he can rnle instead of obeying. 
When once he has seen this it is Yery difficult to 
remove it from his mind and obtain service from 
him. 

In the generality of cases his determined aa ill 
to perform an action against our will under given 
circumstances of place and time is due to our ha- 
ving been opposed to him and to his having been 
able to perform it notwithstanding our opposition, 
when it is not due to fear. His memory recalls to 
him the association received from his having been 
able to make this action under such circumstances 
in spite of our opposition, and when the same 
circumstances present themselves he wishes to make 
it again. The determined will to perform a certain 
action is called the vice of performing this action. 

In order that he should not acquire any of 
these bad associations detrimental to ns, namely 
seeing that he is stronger than we are, that he can 
do the opposite of our will, care must be taken 
that he should not find himself so placed as to be 
tempted to do as lie desires, and the attempt should 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 87 



never be made to prevent what lie wishes to do if 
we are not in a position and have not the means 
of absolutely preventing it. 

If owing to the time or place or other circum- 
stances we are not in a position or we doubt being 
able to overcome him, it is better to let him have 
jhis own Avay than to allow him to see that he over- 
fcomes us. This is the reason why he should be 
iridden out of the riding school only when he is in 
Ian obedient frame of mind and can be dominated. 

His having been able to perform an action of 
his own will against the will of man which op- 
posed him and was unable to prevent it is the worst 
of the associations which can be given to the liorse. 
Saying no, and yet allowing them to do the thing 
forbidden is in the case of children and men an 
incitement to do what is prohibited. Nearly all the 
rebellious acts of the horse arise from his having 
acquired the experience of being able to act in spite 
of the opposition of man. 

If a horse has by his own desire turned to go 
to the stable and had not been prevented or could 
not be prevented, no attempt should be made to 



88 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

prcYent him from doing so, but lie must be allov. ed 
to go. After that he must with cavesson and h>iin- 
ges be led out again to the point Avhere he turned 
back to the stable and a man or more men must 
be there ready with whips to foi'ce him away and 
to compel him to follow the men who draw him 
aA\ay with the lounges so that he cannot return 
to his stable. 

It' he has already acquired the vice of returning 
to the stable or turning backwards at a given j^oint 
of the road this point must be passed several times 
a day for several days and he must always be 
pnnented from turning until he shows that he no 
longer wishes to turn and it no longer comes into 
his mind to turn. 

Care must be taken not to give him associa- 
tions contrary likcAvise to what it is desired to do 
or what he is required to do. A contrary associa- 
tion to recapturing a runaway horse is the running 
behind him as running behind him excites him to 
run more. In order to capture the escaped horse 
we must remain quiet when he is i>aying attention 
to us and approach very sloAvly Avhen he is occu- 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 89 

pied ^\ith soinetliing else stopping again each time 
lie begins to pay attention to ns or to listen. 

Tlie vice of backing on our appearing before 
him, on onr attempting to pull him forward, is due 
to its liaving been attempted to pull him forward 
by main force, or to his lijiving been ill-treated or 
punished by someone standing in front of liim be- 
cause he would not go forward tlins giving him an 
association contrary to coming forward. Tliis is con- 
trary to the most elementary step required in liis 
teaching, which is that of going forward, of follow- 
ing, feeling liims(df invited to advance by pulis at 
the reins or lounge intermittently. 

I remember a rider wliose horse stopped and 
refused to go l)ecause lie ill-treated him in the 
iiiouth with t]ie luiiids. When the horse stood still 
lie did not punish him. He punished him instead 
with hands and spurs when, after a while, he started 
again. That rider did not understand that by doing 
this he told the horse that to stand still Vvas good 
and to go on was bad. 

The horse leai'ns to throw up his croup and 
kick on being touched with the spurs from seeing 



90 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

that his rider does not know how to prevent him 
by promptly giving raising aids witli the liand and 
from the fact that the spnrs cease to be applied 
when he throws np his cronp. Thus iho horse learns 
that by throwing up the croup he causes his rider 
to cease applying the spurs. 

Eor many horses the fact of Jtavhu/ been afraid 
of an object ayul liavincf been punished or hnrt 
before it once only suffices for them to remember 
it always and always fear it, and to think that the 
re-appearance of the object Avill cause the recur- 
rence of the punishments or the evil experienced. 
Eor this reason they should not be punished in the 
presence of an object which frightens them and 
care should be taken that they should not be hurt 
by any object. 

Another most important rule in teaching and 
managing horses is not to use continual physical 
force in order to compel them to perform any mo- 
vement, as this inspires them with great fear and 
at times depression, and excites them to revolt, and 
if owing to superior physical force they are com- 
pelled to yield, they readily understand that when 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 91 



tlie material force is absent they cannot be com- 
pelled to do it and will not do it. In like way tlie 
anger of an easily angered horse must not be aroused 
by punishment because this excites him to violent 
reactions. 

With horses mistakes must not be made with 
respect to associations, they must not be given as- 
sociations which are bad or against us or the actions 
it is desired to teach them to do, because much 
effort is required afterwards to overcome them and 
to make them forget having been the victors. 

With the foal, until the moral ascendant has 
been gained over him by which he is made to 
obey willingly we must avoid furnishing him with 
occasions which tempt him to perform actions of 
his own volition. It is necessary to avoid turning 
round at the same point in a road several times 
successively, in order not to give him the idea 
that at that point he has finished his work and 
must turn back; instead the roads must be varied. 
We must avoid passing near the stable when it is 
not desired to put him there, and if it is necessary 
to pass that way either have sufficient mastery over 



92 HOtV THE aoiiSE LEARNS 

hiiu to prevent liim going in or liave a man or 
more men ready wlio by threats and punishments 
prevent liiin and make him go on. 

Tlie vices of kicking, of biting and of not al- 
h)wing the bridle to be put on by raising the head 
are for the most part caused by bad and contrary 
associations which the man in charge of the horse 
lias himself given him by ill-treating him when 
doing these things, and the horse is not to blame. 
The horse acts according to what he sees and 
what is done to him. 

The vice of kicking is rarely due to a bad na- 
tural disposition. Usually it is learnt in the follo- 
wing way. The man who grooms him in the stable 
suddenly, without a previous voice sound of warning, 
strikes the tiank, or tlie croup, or the hind-legs of 
a horse in order to make him go aside. The horse 
perhaps does not know how or is not accustomed 
to going on one side, or else is of a timid, nervous 
or choleri<' nature and kicks. The man shows that 
he is afraid by running back and the horse directly 
learns that by kicking he makes the man, his enemy 
who beats him, run away, and that kicking is the 
means of making the man cease beating him. 



HOW THE HORSE LEAENS 93 

Biting is soon learnt by the horse who feels 
tickling behind the second bone of the shoulder, 
in the flanks, or on the front and interior part of 
the haunches. The horse is touched by the man 
who arooms him and who usually takes amusement 
in exciting the horse by rubbing him in the part 
where he feels the tickling irritation; the horse na- 
turally revolts, and, by threatening to bite, seeks 
to reply, in order to put an end to the excitement 
to which he is being subjected. The man excites 
hiin more instead of ceasing to do so and then the 
horse bites. The man shows himself to be intimi- 
dated by this and ceases to touch hiin and with- 
draws, and the horse has learnt that by biting he 
causes the annoyance of tickling inflicted on him 
by the man to cease. These things were not inven- 
ted by the horse but wer^ learnt by him because 
the man who had charge of him taught them to 
him by bad associations unfavourable to himself. 

Biting is learnt still more easily if the man in 
charge punches or kicks the horse in ihc belly, and 
if in putting on the saddle instead of pulling the 
girth straps gradually he tightens them by jerking 



94 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

pulls. Tonoliiiig him unexpectedly Avithout warning 
liini first with the voice may also frighten him and 
excite him to kick and bite. 

The horse who has learnt to kick and bite be- 
cause the man who had charge of him has ill- 
treated him, is readily inclined to think that every 
man who approaches him wishes to ill-treat him 
and rightly judges that it is better to prevent this 
by placing himself first on the defensive and attack- 
ing the man. 

Another man who slnmld subsequently have 
charge of that horse would need some time to per- 
suade him that he does not desire to ill-treat him 
as his predecessor did. He would have to use great 
skill, care and caution in moving round him in 
order to avoid being attacked, whilst by conti- 
nually giving the horse good associations in con- 
nection with his person and continually treating him 
well the horse little by little grows to understand 
and persuade himself that he does not desire to do 
him any harm; but in the meantime he will be in 
danger of attack. 

If the man wishes to persuade the horse that 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 95 



he does not wish to do him any harm he mnst 
remain quiescent, never do anything to him and 
only be intent on passing round him in such a 
way as to avoid being attacked. If he were to lose 
patience once only and to punish the horse because 
he tried to attack him, he would no longer be able 
to persuade him. Only after much time in which 
he has treated him well he can threaten him with 
his voice and give him a single jmnishment. 

With horses it is not anger but judgment, pa- 
tience and an idea of justice which are required. 
AYhoever does not desire to treat them in accor- 
dance with this rule should not be allowed to have 
charge of horses because he will make them acquire 
vices. 

The unwillingness of the horse to allow the 
bridle to be put on or to lower the head for any 
other purpose arises, in the following way. The 
man seeks to pull the head down in a rough w ay 
by material force and the horse becomes afraid 
and raises it; the man loses patience and hits him 
on the neck or on the head, and the horse be- 
comes so much the more afraid and raises the head 
so much the more. 



96 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

His unwillingness to allow tlie crupper to be 
put on is likewise due to it having- been attempted J 
by force and without any gentleness, and to ill- 
treatment on account of his liaving been excited ^ 
or afraid to allow it to be put on ; and the more | 
tlien he is ill-treated tlie greater will be liis fear of ^ 
allowing it to be put <m. 

Tlius punishments are associated with the action 
it is desired tliat the horse should i)erform or Avith 
wliat A\c would Avisli to do to the horse, and by ^ 
this means the Inn-se is t<dd not to do it and not i 
to alloAV it to be done. People attribute the blame 
for this to the horse and do not see that it is their 
fault or the fault of whoever had charge of the 
horse before them. 

An example of a wrong association is in the 
following ancient fable. A dog bit a man. The man 
was afraid and gave him bread in the idea that 
the dog would bite liim no more. After this fact * 
the dog bit everybody in order to have bread be- 
cause he had learned that biting procured him 
bread. 

The bread given on the act of biting was an 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 97 

association of approbation with biting and was a 
mistaken association, contrary to man. 

The moral of the fable is that a premium ought 
never to be given to evil doings. On the contrary 
they must be severely punished as impunity is an 
inducement to crime. 



He must he taucpit in the same way 
that he learns of himself. 

Just as the horse learns by way of associating 
tlie idea of one thing with the idea of another, 
tlie idea of one action with the idea of another 
action, so we should teach him by giving him these 
associations through objects or deeds or through 
our behaviour, these being adapted to give rise in 
him to the ideas of the movements we desire to 
teach him to do, and couple with these associations 
o]ie or more movements on our part which invite, 
induce and compel him to perform the actions it 
is desired to teach him. 



98 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

In order to teach him the movement of going 
forward at the sound of the voice which it is de- 
sired to use as a signal to put him in motion, to 
make him advance, short intermittent pulls are 
made with the lounge which are invitations to in- 
duce him to advance and to them is associated 
that S(mnd of voice and if he does not understand 
or does not wish to advance the association of 
menace ov of having him touched with the whi}) 
behind is added. In this way we give liim tlie 
association of the voice sound Avhich is to he tlie 
signal for advancing with the action of advancing 
to perform which he is invited by intermittent pulls 
with the lounge and compelled by threats or the 
use of the whip behind. 



The means of teaching are the various 
aids and pimishments. 

The means of teaching him are the various 
aids and punishments which we must apply for 



HOW THE HOESE LEAENS 99 



tlie purpose of giving rise iu him to the ideas of 
the acts we desire him to do, of explaining them 
to liim, making him understand them and indu- 
cing him to make the movements we wish and 
not to make those movements we do not wish. 
The aids and punishments likewise serve to show 
approval or dUapproval of the movements he makes 
as will be stated below. 

The aids and punishments used on foot are : — a 
conciliatory voice sound oh ! — a threatening short 
abrupt voice sound eh! — caresses — a kind look 
or a threatening look — gesture aids by showing 
the whip or threatening, or striking with it — 
aids and punishments with the cavesson through 
the lounge. 

The aids and punishments given on horseback 
are — by means of the reins — with the riding 
whip — with the legs — by the weight of the rider' s 
body — and with the spurs. — These aids and 
punishments must be applied in accordance with 
his mental constitution and physical structure. 

It is understood that any one who teaches 
horses ought to have studied the rules for their 



100 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

application in the right way and at the rUiht 
moment. 



Pmiishme7its and caresses in teaching. 

Punishments are not suited to teaching. Their 
purpose is to induce and to compel the performance 
of or refraining from any action. In teaching, the 
punishments in order to induce or compel the per- 
formance of the action taught should be apj)lied 
with great discernment and very sparingly as they 
may easily render the horse over timorous or excite 
aversion to us and to the actions it is desired to 
teach him, and also anger and attempts to react. 

In teaching, the fact of the liorse not making 
the movement we Avish him to make is generally 
due to his not understanding or having i)lnsical 
diflficulty in making it with his ])ody because lie 
has made it a few times or not at all before, or 
is not suificiently prepared for it. This sliouhl not 
be punished. A punishment may be given Avlien lie 
knows well what is required of him and is able 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 101 

to do it and uyill not do it, but a threat is suffi- 
cient in most cases. Sucli refusal on the part of the 
horse Is of rare occurrence and does not take place 
if he has been taught by gradation and preparation. 
With most horses it is necessary to give them time 
to understand which action is required and to learn 
to carry it out in proportion to their intelligence. 
It must not be demanded that they should learn 
immediately, that they should perform directly and 
at the very moment when it is sought to make 
them understand tlie action they are required to 
go through. 

Conciliatory words and caresses shoTild on tlie 
other hand ]>e used without stint almost continuously 
in order to keep their mind well disposed to learn 
and as a sign of approval, as a reward, and to 
prevent the occurrence of opposition and anger. 
As was already mentioned caresses on the eyes and 
on the occiput have a particular effect like ma- 
gnetism. They have the eifect of quieting and of 
inspiring trust in us. 



102 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 



Way of maJcwff the liorse underafmul that he is desired 

to perform or not to jjerform an (tction 

and inducing him to ijerform or not to 2^erform it. 

Associations of 2)1 ea sure or of approval 

and associations of ^yain or disaptproval. 

The instinct implanted in animals cansing them 
to seek pleasure and flee fear and pain, to feel 
pleasure on being caressed, to feel fear and pain 
on being threatened and struck, gives us the means 
of telling the horse to make those movements we 
wish him to make and of inducing him to mjjke 
them, and of telling him not to make those move- 
ments we do not wish him to make and inducing 
him not to make them. 

He is induced to think that it is good for him 
to make a movement we wish him to make, and is 
induced to make it by accompanying it, associa- 
ting it and causing it to be followed immediately 
by a thing which gives him pleasure. 

He is induced to think that it is bad for him 
to perform an action he does and wishes to perform. 



HOW THE nottSE LEABKS 103 

and which we do not wish him to do, and is induced 
not to do it by accompanying it, associating^ it with 
and causing it to be foHowed immediafely by a 
thin^' or an act whicli i^iAes him fear or pain. 

The horse is induced to come to us by shoAving 
him oats, i. e. a pleasure and a benefit to him, by 
giAdng them to him and by caressing him when 
he comes to us. 

He is induced to run away from us or from a 
phice Avhere he AAould Avish to go by threatening 
him or striking him a\ ith the Avhip, i. e. by making 
him experience fear, pain or evil. 

The horse is caressed in order to make him 
well disposed and, by any means aa hatcA er and in 
any way whatcA^er, it is sought to induce him to 
make the movement required. Immediately on his 
making it he is caressed and the caresses are ac- 
c( mpanied by the conciliatory voice sound, oh ! 
Thus the idea is given him that by making this 
movement he obtains caresses, i. e. a pleasure. He 
can be given something to eat Avhich he likes, but 
even caresses and soothing words are sufficient. 

If he makes a movement Avhich he is not de- 



104 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

sired to make he is threatened with a loud, short ^ 
and angry voice sound eh ! and by gesture, and J 
to this is added a punishment if necessary, and thus 
he is given the idea that the performance of such 
an action produces threats or punishments for \\uv., 
i. e. tlie threat of pain, or pain itself. 

The association of the conciliatory voice sound f 
oh ! of a kind look and caresses, i. e. of pleasure, « 
with an action he performs means to him ap2)rov<fJ. 

The association of the short angry voice sound 
eh ! of menace, or of a punishment, i. e. pain with 
an action he performs, means to him disajyproiud. 
He easily remembers it and at times once only is . 
sufficient. 

When the horse performs a movement we wish 
him to perform he must be immediately made to 
know that he does well by doing so, by our signi- 
fying a^yproval with a conciliatory voice sound, a 
kind look and caresses. 

When the horse does a movement we do not 
wish him to do he should be immediately made to 
know that he is not doing well by so doing, by 
means of a sign of disapproval, by a threat, by 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 105 

an angry voice, by a threatening look or gesture 
or by punishment, and by preventing him from 
making it if it is a movement that we can mate- 
rially prevent. This is necessary in order that he 
should know what he must and must not do. 

At the smallest act of obedience which he does 
at our requirement he must be given signs of a})- 
proval by a conciliatory voice sound, a kind look, 
caresses and these things give him likewise the 
idea of their being a reward for having done it. 

Griving him an interval of rest after having 
obtained the performance of an action from him 
gives him the idea of relief and of pleasure asso- 
ciated wit]i the performance of the action, and ma- 
kes him think that after having executed that 
movement it will be given to him. — Intervals of 
rest give relief to the body and also to the mind and 
prevent weariness. — Letting him lower his head 
and neck after having kept them in good position 
gives him a sense of pleasure and is a reward to 
him for having allowed his head to be placed in 
good position. — Another reward is the freeing 
of his head after he has made some movement 



106 Hf)W THE HORSE LEARNS 

required and giving him some time of rest before 
requiring liim to do it again. 

At every movement lie makes wliicli we do not 
wisli liim to make lie should immeditdely be given 
signs of disapprovfil, of threat by voice, look, gesture 
or punishment. This however depends on the in- 
dividual menial nature, i. e. the disposition of the 
horse, and must be done moderately and by de- 
grees after having acquired the confidence of the 
horse. We should not hasten to punish everything 
that the foal does but should see whether it is a 
case for i)unishment by reason of the time and 
place and whether it is possible and expedient in 
view of the consequences which may be foreseen. 
He must always be given time to understand and 
be persuaded by flattery to do what is desired. 

In order to induce the horse to perfcu'in an 
action which gives him no pleasure or for which 
he has a dislike the idea of fear and inmishment 
is employed if he does not perform it, and he is 
given the idea of avoiding a gi'eater evil the pu- 
nishment, by doing it; or we may give repeated 
small aids of the cavesson, of the hand or the 



flow THE HORSE LEARNS 107 

whip which are small punishments until he per- 
forms it and cease to apply them immediately on 
his doing' so. The positions of his body which he 
is made to assume by means of the reins and the 
lounge are thus obtained. 

The first disftjjjjroval must be shown by means 
of more or less angry yoice sound, threatening 
gesture and menace with the whip, and not by 
punishment. Punishment must be resorted to after 
the threats liaye tailed to make an elfect. The 
lounge is best adapted for showing disapproval, as 
it does not excite reactions as does the whip. 

Necessary conditions in order that the horse 
may learn. 

In order that the horse may learn ^vhat we 
teach him the following things are necessary : 

that the horse should giye us his attention; 

that he should be well disposed mentally ; 

that he should haye confidence and trust in us ; 

that he should have acquired the idea of obey- 
ing us; 



108 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

that the association of ])leasure or of lyain,, i. e. | 
of approval or disapproval, should follow immedia-^ 
tely on the action he performs which is to be ap-? 
proved or disapproved; 

that the associations which are given him in 
order to teach him to make the various movements 
should be of things that he knows and understands; 
and should be adapted to give rise in iiim to the 
ideas of the actions which it is desired to teach i 
him ; 

that i\\Q body of the horse should be prepared a 
to make tlie movements it is desired to do, so 
that he may execute them and be brought to per- 
form tliem by degrees, in order that they should f 
not ])(i difficult to hini and should therefore not 
arouse him to oppositions and reactions. 

Attention. 

It is necessary that the horse should give his 
atterdion to us in order to understand the associations 
given to him for the purpose of giving rise in him 
to the ideas we desire with a view to making him f 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 109 

learn. Tor this reason he should be insti-ucted in 
an enclosed place where he does not see other 
horses, where he has no opportunity for paying 
j attention to other things, save his instructor, which 
j things may give rise in him to other or contrary 
I ideas. If he is intent on other things he cannot 
I pay attention to his teacher and cannot learn. 

His mental condition must be that of tranquility, 
he must not be under the influence of fear or of 
natural instinct, or of anger against us. Under the 
influence of these things he is dominated by them, 
he cannot pay attention to the actions it is desired 
to teach him, he seeks to make oppositions and 
reactions and he cannot learn. 

Confidence. 

The possession of confidence in us by the horse 
is his believing and his being persuaded that we 
do not wish to do him any harm, that he will not 
receive liarm from us, that Jie should not be afraid 
of us, til at be may trust us. Confidence in us is 
obtained from the horse by letting him experience 



110 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

for a certain time that from us he receives goodj 

and not evil. I 

This belief, this state of mind of the horse, i 

1 
renders him tranquil, gives him the possibility of 1 

being attentive, and the willingness to obey, andi 
prevents him to be excited to anger and therefore 
resistance; it is therefore the first thing to be^ 
taught to the horse in order that he should con-: 
sent to do what we desire. i 

If in place of being confident in us he is afraid j 
of us and fears us, if he is in a state of mental i 
revolt, his thought is to escape or to respond by 
violence, to attack, not to pay attention and be ] 
inclined to obedience, and if he does obey he does 
so unAvillingly because he believes himself mate- 
rially compelled, and he is readily inclined to take 
fright at everything. That the horse should have « 
confidence in the person teaching him is the most 
necessary thing in order to be able to teach him - 
and to allow him to learn. Everything is obtained i 
easily from the horse if, from having let him see i; 
constantly that it is not desired to do him harm J 
or to compel him by continual physical force, hi» 
confidence has been acquired. 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 111 

Confidence is obtained from the horse by trea- 
ting him well. The good treatment we adopt to- 
wards him associated in his mind with our person, 
i gives him the idea that we are of benetit to him, 
j that he may trust us, and may rely on us. It 
cannot be obtained by using severity and applying 
punishment at the very beginning when commen- 
cing to teach the horse and when the horse does 
not yet know us. If it is desired to obtain a favour 
from some one avIio does not know us we do not 
j, begin by beating him, but on tlie contrary by 
doing pleasing and grateful things to him in order 
to acquire his favour. 

Obedience. 

Being in obedience means feeling the moral 
necessity of doing that which is required and indi- 
cated in order, too, that no evil may arise from not 
doing so. Obedience implies respect, respect implies 
fear, fear implies superiority, siiperioritfj implies 
greater power which can compel, which can inllict 
punishment if the tiling commanded is not done, 
and hence the idea of yielding to superior force. 



112 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

In order to be able to teach him it is absolu- 
tely necessary that the horse should have the idea 
of obedience. If the horse has not this idea of siir 
periority, of resjyect for us, if he does not fear us, 
does not know, does not see that we can give him , 
punishment, i. e. pain, when we need to compel 
him to do what we wish done, we are deprived 
of the means of mastering him. The idea and feeling 
of obedience are suggested to the horse from gi- 
ving him the idea of our superiority, from letting \ 
him sec that we can prevent him (in what way « 
does not matter) from doing his own will, that we 
can threaten and inflict punishment, i. e. pain, on { 
him if he does not do what we tell him to do. 

The idea of our superiority is not innate in the 
horse. The horse when wild has only an instinctive o 
fear of man which makes him flee from us preci- 
sely because we are the worst of all the beasts. 
Ill order to give him the idea of our superiority ( 
threats or punishments should sometimes be used. 
The r(\sort to fhredts or punishments i. e. giving him [ 
pain, uKjkcs liim see our superiority but gives him 
likewise the idea of dislike to us, which is running i 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 113 

counter to the confidence he should have in us. 
Therefore he should be shown our superiority, made 
to see that he can be prevented from doing as he 
would wish but with the least possible amount of 
menace and punishment. 

Punishment before his trust, i. e. his confidence, 
has been obtained, is misunderstood by the horse 
and regarded as bad treatment, and tends to make 
liim regard us as enemies. Therefore until the trust 
of the horse has been acquired punishments should 
not be inflicted save in extreme necessity, and if 
we are compelled to use menaces and any punish- 
ment we must always shortly after make peace 
again and caress him, and never leave him for 
any length of time with the idea of dislike. This 
must alwavs be done shortly after the punishment, 
and at latest at the end of the lesson, and he 
should not be allowed to go to the stable with the 
idea of aversion to us. 

The prevention of wrong actions performed by 
the foal should be by very gentle, graduated stages, 
every now and again. One should not hasten to 
punish every little thing meriting disapproval be- 



114 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 



cause he does many of these things before being 
taught, and then would have to be punished con- \ 
tinually and by this means we shoukl make him 
take us for enemies and he would become despe- 
rate and revolt or would become accustomed to the ^ 
punishments and these would no longer produce 
any effect on him. On the contrary many things , 
must be tolerated and allowed to pass. The punish- 
ment should be a rare shade bringing out into 
greater relief the lujlit of caresses. His seeing that 
when he obeys he is caressed gives greater value i 
to the rare punishment, and diminishes the effect 
of producing aversion inherent in punishment. 



The associations of pleasure or approval 
should follow immediately on the action performed 

and required to be performed, and the associations 

of pain or disapproval should follow immediately 

on the action 2)crformed and not required. 

He would be unable to understand them if these 
associations were given some time after, and after 



HOW THE HORSE LEAENS 115 

other things had happened. If thunder were heard 
some time hiter, and after other things had hap- 
pened, the horse woukl not be able to associate it 
with the idea of lightning, would be unable to 
understand that lightning and thunder involve an 
idea of succession, of cause and effect. This is the 
reason why tlie association of pleasure should al- 
ways follow immediately on the action performed 
and required to be performed, and the association 
of pain immediately on that performed and not 
required. The punishment being associated with 
his action which he is not desired to perform, his 
action comes to be regarded by him as the cause 
of the punishment, and in order not to receive 
the punishment, which to him is an evil, he con- 
ceives the idea of not performing the action which 
gave rise to the punishment. 

Many persons do not punish the horse who has 
performed some bad action whilst on horseback, 
and punish him after they have returned home. 
The cases will be very rare in which the horse can 
take these punishments for punishments. He will 
almost always take them for ill-treatments without 



116 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS ^ 

reason, aud tliey will not correct liim, but will 
only anger him and provolke him to revolt. > 



Hie associations ivhich are given him for the 
purpose of teaching him the actions ive desire to teach 
him, to perform should be — of things that his intelli- 
gence can understand — in the way he can understand 
them — and of things suited to give rise to the ideas 
of the actions we desire to teach him to jmrform, 
to maTce him understand ivhat ice wish him to do. — 
The same associations should always he used to in- 
dicate the same actions, and the movements it is de- 
sired to teach him should be those which his body 
can maJce, and for the maJcing of which it has been 
prepared. 

The actions it is desired to teach him should 
be associated firstly with things that he understands 
naturally or things which he has already learnt. 
He himself understands being drawn forward by 
short intermittent pulls with the lounge which are 
invitations to go forward from the association of 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 117 

beirfg threatened from behind by a whip, and so 
he learns to go forward. 

Whilst he makes this movement of coming for- 
ward, we associate with it a given sound of voice, 
and he learns that this sound of voice means that 
he is to go forward. He could not be required to 
understand the sound of the voice given as a signal 
or an order to advance without it having been first 
taught him in association with the intermittent pulls 
on the lounge which draw him forward simulta- 
neously with the aid of the whip which threatens 
him behind. 

I repeat here what I have said elsewhere that 
voice sounds necessar}^ in teaching should be dis- 
continued when the instruction is complete. 

Signals and aids should be used which are un- 
derstood by his intelligence. He does not understand 
words, but understands the various sounds of the 
voice or other special sounds, associated with dif- 
ferent things and different movements. The same 
aids of any kind, the same sounds of the voice 
and the same punishments should always be asso- 
ciated with the same actions so that he may re- 
member them. 



118 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

A given sound of the voice should always be « 
associated with and used to direct liini to advance. I 
Another sound of the voice to stop and halt. 

The movements he is taught should be those 
which his body can make, and not contrary to his n 
mechanical structure. It is also necessary that he 
should have some little aptitude for some actions 
it is desired to teach him, and that his body should 
be gradually prepared to perform them by suitable 
graduated exercises, so that he should not experience 
much difficulty in performing them. 

AU that is taught Mm shonid he tavf/ht a little at 

a time hy gradation and after preparation of his hody. 

These things are also necessary decatise 

their ahsence may cause oppositions and reactions. 

The absence of preparation of the body and 
gradation in teaching is the cause of oppositions. 
By teaching him a little at a time, he is enabled 
to learn and remember. Teaching him many things 
together and in succession causes confusion. Teach- 
ing a little at a time and alternating rest and 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 119 

instruction are necessary in order that the horse 
may not become wearied, grow fatigued and rebel. 
It is necessary to pass from the easier to the more 
difficult by gradations so that he should not find 
difficulty in doing it. 

In order that the horse may be able to use his 
body pliantly, and place it in the positions which 
are incouYenient to him, but which are necessary 
for the various evolutions, and for the purpose of 
mastering him, and that he may have no reason to 
rebel aud revolt from these causes against the aids, 
which we must give him so as to bring him in 
such positions, it is necessary that his body should 
be prepared for them first. It is necessary to render 
him supple by gradation that he may place himself 
in the required positions without experiencing phy- 
sical pain which would excite him to oppositions 
and reactions. 

Santapaulina a noblemen of l^aples (1696) spe- 
cifies the causes of the resistance on the part of 
the horse to performing an action as follows: — 
Ms not knoiinng hoiv — Ids not being unllincf — 
and he says justly that the latter alone can be 



120 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

punished. To this may be added his feeling that 
pain is being caused to his body and this may | 
even be regarded as the principal cause of his 
not being willing. This is the reason for the neces- 
sity of teaching the horse by gradation and stages » 
so that he may learn to place himself in the va- s 
rious positions and make the various movements i 
without feeling pain in the legs or body. If he is 
to learn to make them promptly and well, this is 
another reason for teaching them by gradation. 

If his body is not gradually prepared to assume | 
the various positions and take up the various pos- 
tures required for the diiferent evolutions, and he 
is put into them without prejDaration, he has dif- 
ficulty and is excited to make oppositions and reac- 
tions the more so if we want to force him by 
punishment. 

By powerful aids, well applied it is possible to 
succeed in controlling some horses even when un- 
prepared and not rendered pliant, and forcing them 
to make some evolutions and movements. But their 
aversion, resistance and revolt are excited because 
pain is caused to their body, and if their good nature 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 121 

does not cause thein to rebel, their legs suffer from 
it. It should uot be done, in order to spare the 
horse. 

That which it is desired to teach him to do 
should come of itself, such is the gradation which 
must be employed, and must always be accompa- 
nied by flattery and caresses so that the horse 
should not become tired, should not become impa- 
tient and should not grow angry. 

The first time that he is taught any action it 
is sufficient if he understands it and does it even 
badly and in a bad position ; this does not matter, 
he will improve it afterwards. All the actions which 
he is taught to do should be first taught in an 
easy position with his head low and then in a 
better position, first at a walk and afterwards at 
a trot and gallop. 

Success in obtaining many, not to say all actions 
from the horse, of course within certain limits, 
depends on knowing how to prepare his body in 
the raechanical positions adapted to perform them. 
If it is desired to raise a foot by taking hold of 
and pulling the leg whilst the horse has the weight 



122 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 



: 



of his body ou it, it would be very difficult to 
succeed in lifting it even with great strength, as ) 
the horse is not in a suitable mechanical posture I 
to allow of its being done. He is placed in a sui- 
table position for raising the foot by leaning one » 
liand against the shoulder or haunch. Thus the * 
weight of the horse's body is directed on to the 
other side, and the foot that it is desired to raise 
remains uncharged, and can be raised easily with 
slight exertion of strength. It is generally said that 
the horse will not raise his foot, and it is not 
understood that he has not been placed in a posi- 
tion suitable for doing so, and this is not the fault 
of the horse but that of the man who has not 
studied how the foot should be raised. 

The horse who does not know how to traverse 
should not be required to suddenly traverse by dint 
of punishments with hand, spurs or whip. He 
should be prepared for it by bending him gradu- 
ally, giving him time to grow accustomed to this 
bent posture and little by little making him tra- 
verse for a few^ steps until he grows accustomed to 
it and it no longer inconveniences him. 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 123 

Resistance and revolt slionld not be excited by 
repeated punishments, and if we perceive that the 
horse has conceived the idea of resisting or revol- 
ting, we must either cease at once to require the 
action he was being taught, or place ourselves in 
a position to be able to oppose and prevent the 
reaction immediately and not wait until he has 
carried it out. 

When we do not succeed in obtaining an action 
we may be sure that it is not the fault of the horse 
but our OAvn, who have demanded it from him 
without having prepared him beforehand or without 
the gradation which is required by his nature, or 
have demanded an action which at that moment 
was not possible for him. The horse should not be 
required to go through any action Avithout proper 
gradation and preparation, much less should we 
seek to force him to such action by means of pu- 
nishments. The result would be resistance and re- 
volt, and the horse would attain the knowledge 
that he is superior to us, that he can refuse to do 
what we tell him to do. 

We likewise should not insist upon the horse 



124 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

going througli an action if we are not in a posi- 
tion and under circumstances allowing us to compel 

him, as being able to successfully resist us he 

1 
would become aware of his superiority and our 

inferiority. i 

This is the reason why mastery should be obtain- . 

ed in the riding school. Here we can compel him, 

whilst outside the horse is the master. Santapaulina 

says that the edge of a precipice is not the place 

to combat the fear of a horse. It is better to get 

off and give it up. 



Actions, aids, punishments, mid associations 

which the horse understands naturally, 

with ivhich may he associated the actions it is desired 

to teach him to perform, 

and hy which these may he taught him. 

Just as with deaf mutes it is requisite to make 
oneself understood by signs, so it is with the horse. 
The things which he understands naturally, and 
which he can understand on their being taught 
him, are various signs, and such signs are our dif- 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 125 

I ferent aids and punishments by wiiich we make 
him understand what we desire him to do. He 
does not understand words, but the sound of words, 
or rather the various intonations of the voice, when 
they are simple and distinct. Eor him words are 
sounds, aud for this reason all languages are alike. 
Of these sounds, whatever be the word used in 
emitting them, he naturally understands : — the so- 
norous conciliatory sound oh ! which has the effect 
of soothing him ; — the loud short angry sound eh ! 
which produces the impression of a menace and 
makes him afraid. 

The other sounds adopted for directing him to 
advance, to stop, or make any other given move- 
ments, such as to start off at a gallop, and others 
are learnt by associating them frequently Avitli these 
actions, which he is induced to perform by means 
of other aids. 

He understands naturally; — a kind look and 
caresses, which have the effect of soothing him ; — a 
tlireatening look, gesture, or movement with the 
Avhlp, or being struck with the whip ; — which are 
things producing upon him usually the effect of 



126 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

making him afraid, of making him flee in the op- 
posite direction, and at times, react. 

He understands — to advance if lie is threa- 
tened or struck behind with the whip ; — to recede 
if treatened in front ; — to go to the left if threa- 
tened from the right; — to go to the right if 
threatened from the left; — the cavesson punish- 
ments; — the intermittent pullings of the lounge 
which invite him to advance, to follow the person 
who pulls; — the oppositions made with the lounge 
on the cavesson, which prevent him from advancing 
when he would wish to do so, and keep him in 
one spot or make him recede. 

Excited by punishment with the whip he is 
afraid and runs, but when this punishment ceases 
he understands that it is better to go slowly. He 
understands enough to avoid objects of sufiicient 
size to give him the idea that he might be hurt 
by them. This is not contradicted by the single 
instances of his going against objects when over- 
come by fear, or by his breaking out of the en- 
closure in which he was placed if the sight of 
other horses excites him to go away. 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 127 



Things and actions tvJiicJi the horse does not 

understand nattiraUy hut which he learns 

i/inmediatehj hy means of association with the things 

which he understands, and which it is 

essential to teach him, owing to their being a, matter 

of iwime necessity ivith a view to his instrtiction. 

His coming forward on being pulled for^vard 
with the lounge although he understands it because 
it is a material action, may in the beginning give 
him the idea of being subjected to violence, and 
he may resist by receding. He is taught not to 
resist the lounge when pulling by threatening him 
or striking him behind with the whip, whilst being 
pulled in front with the lounge to make him ad.- 
vance. The lounge with the cavesson and the whip 
are complementary, and assist each other in teaching 
the other elementary things it is necessary to teach 
the horse. 

His advancing towards us, his coming to us 
whilst he is going in a circle led by the lounge 
at some distance from us, is explained to him and 



128 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

he learns it, from our pulling him with the lounge 
and forcing him to come to us by another person ' 
threatening him from behind with the whip. In | 
order that he should come forward towards the ' 
man who holds the lounge and pulls him forward, 
this man must not have ill-treated him. If the man 
had ill-treated him previously he would have given 
him an association contrary to coming towards him, 
as the horse would be afraid of him, and would 
be right in not wishing to come. 

He does not understand having to advance at 
a given sound of the voice which it is desired to 
use to make him start, when it is employed for 
the first time. It is explained and taught him by 
pulling him forward with the lounge while he is 
simultaneously urged from behind with the whip, 
and associating with these aids the sound of the 
voice which it is desired to use as a signal to start. 
He learns it after these associations have been re- 
peated a certain number of times constantly in the 
same way. 

He does not understand before he is taught the 
sound of voice which is intended to make him stop. 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 129 

It is taught him by stopping him, while he is led 
with the lounge, and preventing him from going 
on by oppositions with the lounge on the cavesson 
at the same time associating the action of stopping 
with the voice sound meant to make him stop. 

Oppositions made in front with the lounge on 
tlie cavesson or on the bridle or on the halter are 
appropriate for making him stop but he may not 
understand them or may not be willing to under- 
stand them. They are explained and enforced by a 
threat made in front. He learns this after the action 
of stopping him in this way with this sound of the 
voice has been repeated a certain number of times. 

Advancing and stopping are likewise learnt 
somewhat from the idea of imitation, because in 
pulling him forward he has seen the man advance, 
and Avhen resisting his advance and stopping him 
has seen the man likewise stop. When these sounds 
are learnt they may be used without the other 
aids with which they have been taught him, and 
may be used to teach him other movements which 
he does not know, and which it is desired to 
teach him. 



130 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 



The aids of the hand, of the weicfht of the l)ody 
of the rider and other aids are mechanical, 

and after they have been ' 

learnt heco^ne mental or conventional aids. 

Except the associations which must be given to 
the horse in order to acquire his confidence , to 
teach him to advance at a given sound of the 
voice, to stop and remain still at certain other s 
sound of the voice, and to free him from fear, i 
the other actions which it is requisite to teach 
him in order to fit him for being ridden depend i 
on and are taught by means of aids or indications ■ 
with the lounge, the whip, the hand, the weight 
of rider's the body, the riding whip and the legs, 
which act in part mechanically and explain them- 
selves owing to the mechanical effect they produce 
upon him, and in part mentally but clearly. 

By means of these aids, the horse comes to 
one side because he is actually drawn that way, 
and goes to the other because he is materially 
driven there. This is a great advantage, and if 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 131 

these aids did not act thus ^neclianically ^ I do 
not know how the evolutions could be taught 
him. In proportion as his body, with increased 
instruction, becomes freer and more pliant, and 
his motion improves, these aids produce greater 
and more prompt eifect. 

After a certain amount of repetition these aids, 
in addition to acting meclianically , act likewise as 
mental, conventional or memorised aids, because he 
remembers their eifect. The horse who has seen 
himself compelled several times by these aids to 
assume given positions, and to make given move- 
ments, on the same aids being repeated remem- 
bers them, and prepares himself, assumes those 
positions himself, and does of his own accord what 
he has already understood he is required to do on 
the first indication of these aids, not waiting for 
their meclianical action. Owing to his memory, 
tlie horse retains the eifect produced on his body 
by mechanical aids. 

Opposed by one rein, he is sent to the other 
side, and this is a meclianical aid, but the horse 
associates the idea of having been sent to the 



132 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 



I 



otlier side, and oi' having been required to go to i 
the other side with the opposition of that rein. ) 
He remembers having gone to the other side on 
the aid applied by the rein, and makes ready and I 
lends himself to go to the other side at the slightest ► 
indication of action by the rein given in this way 
for this purpose. Thus if in teaching him this action, 
a force which we will call ten was employed to 
induce him to do it the first few times, when he 
has learnt it, a force of one is sufficient, i. e. a 
mere indication. | 

When these aids become mental aids their ac- 
tion is more rapid, they are quicker in transmit- 
ting the orders of the rider to tlie horse, and tlie 
horse is quicker to execute them because he comes 
to understand them more quickly. Thus he stops 
more quickly on the voice signal to stop than on 
the signal to stop given by the reins. This is the 
reason why in order to make the horse perform 
an action which he lias never performed, more capa- 
city, more precision of aids and more strength is 
required in the person teaching than after he has 
learnt it. After learning it, even if the aids are badly 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 133 

given, the horse does it just the same because on 
the first sign of the aid being given, although it 
may be badly given, he understands immediately 
or ii^uesses immediatelv what he is to do. This shows 
the diiference between riding a trained horse and 
instructing a horse the first time. 

The aids and punishments of the whip are 
understood by him yiaturally, he knows their mean- 
ing, whicli is to go away from them, to flee them, 
i. e. the action of going and of going in the direc- 
tion opposite to that in which they are given. 
They are also mental aids because they act upon 
his mind by giving sensations of pain. 

The aids and punishments with the spurs are 
not so clear. In many horses they excite reactions, 
and to explain tliem it is necessary to associate 
them with the whip aids, ap]3lying them together 
in order to show that they are signals to advance, 
that on giving them the spurs it is desired they 
should go forward. 

The cavesson aids act mechanically and mentally 
and explain themselves. Their action is powerful 
because it is exercised on the h-am, the seat of 
intelligence and will. 



134 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 



Associations of place ] 

and associations of time or succession. \ 

The learning of the various evolutions is faci- 
litated for the horse by associating them with [ 
certain given points in the riding school, i. e. by ] 
giving him associations oi place, by repeatedly cau- 
sing him to perform a given action at a given ^^o?«f, ^ 
and by making him perforin an action immedia- 
tely after another given action, i. e. by giving liiiii 
associations of time or snccession. Tlie memory of 
the place recalls the memory of the evolution 
executed at that 2)lace and the memory of tlse 
action first performed recalls that which was c(si! 
stantly performed immediately afterwards, aiul 
which he must perform after the lirst. 

Teaching the various evolutions by the aids of 
the hand and of the weight of the rider's body 
etc., at given points in the riding scliool causes 
him to associate such evolutions witli those points 
and on the same aids being applied at those given 
points he better remembers the evolutions he has 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 135 

been caused to make at those given points and 
when he is required to make them again by the 
same aids at those points he prepares for them 
himself with his body and performs them better. 

This association of the evolutions with given 
points of the riding school has the advantage that 
ihe horse knows where he is to go to and goes 
there, and whilst he is going there, aids may be 
applied to improve his position and the execution 
of the evolution without their confusing him. 

Thus in making him traverse by a half turn 
tlie horse knows that he goes from the middle of 
tlie short wall of the riding school to the middle 
of the long wall. Whilst he is making this passage 
hand aids may be given him to hold him in and 
make him traverse without his growing confused 
and without their causing him to swerve from his 
path. 

If he is taught to perform the pirouette (turn 
on himself on the croup) by passing lengthwise 
down the middle of the riding school and stopping 
in the centre (where the pirouette is always per- 
formed) and then continuing to advance in the 



136 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

same direction he acquires an association which 
after some repetitions causes him to remember that 
when he reaches the centre of the riding school he 
ought to make the pirouette, and he prepares for 
it himself and does it better. 

Eoreseeing that he must make a pirouette he 
prepares his body himself and does it better, and 
he is not confused by the various aids which are 
given him for the purpose of securing his executing 
it in a good position. 

Promptness in executing evolutions is learnt by 
teaching him in this way and therefore by tlie 
horse understanding beforehand what he is requi- 
red to do from the aids which are given him in 
order to make him prepare his body for the various 
evolutions, which he already knows, owing to li ji- 
ving made them many times. 

When he has learnt them he makes any evo- 
lution in any desired place, because with the exe- 
cution of each evolution he has associated the 
various special aids which preceded his being put 
through it, and the aids by which he was made 
to execute it. 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 137 

Erom making him go repeatedly through a gi- 
ven evolution at a given point in the riding school 
the horse easily comes to believe that he is desi- 
red to make it whenever he is made to pass along 
that point, and when passing along that point lie 
prepares for it and wishes to make it. This may 
be soon remedied by being intent on forestalling 
him and preventing him from going through the 
evolution, making him continue straight on. Thus 
he learns that in order to go through that evo- 
lution in that place, he must wait until told to 
do so by having the proper aids applied. 

These associations of place have the same 
advantage when giving him instruction vvith the 
lounge because the horse, from the place where he 
has been made to go through a given evolution 
has learnt his way and is not confused by the 
various aids given him with the lounge for the 
purpose of improving the ]30sition of his body or 
maintaining it in a good position. With the lounge 
and with the whip he soon learns the evolutions 
which he is made to go through in the riding 
school, because they are constantly carried out at 



138 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

certain points in the riding school and he asso- 
ciates them with these points. Thns at every indi- 
cation of an aid given at such a point he knows 
where to go, what he is to do and how he is to 
do it. This hokls good for every other evolution. 

As the bugle signal makes him expect that 
after it he will be given oats because this was 
done many times, thus the fact of repeatedly ma- 1 
king him go through an action immediately after 
another, forms an association which makes him 
remember and expect that after he has been put 
through a certain given action he will be put ; 
through another given action. This gives him the „ 
idea of succession in going through various move- , 
ments, and, foreseeing the second action before he ' 
is required to go through it, he prepares himself;] 
for it, and x^erforms it better. 

For the actions which are prepared and gover- i 
ned by various aids applied one after the other, 
he retains their succession and after the first or 
second aid, he understands what is desired and 
executes it without waiting to be given the other 
aids which would follow. 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 139 

In order to make liim start off at the gallop 
the horse has observed that the following moTe- 
ments were always made in succession ; — he has 
been collected with the reins ; — he has been 
slightly bent inwards with the head and croup ; — 
the weight of the rider' s body has been placed on 
the inside stirrup ; — the hand has been raised ; — 
and an outside leg or whip aid has been given. — 
After this has been done several times, on the first 
aids he sets off at a gallop and does not wait fur 
the raising of the hand or the starting signal 
given from outside. This happens with light liorses 
which are naturally united and spirited, and not 
with the disunited and lazy liorse. 

The horse who was always made to gaHop 
slightly bent towards the centre of the riding 
school, understands that it is desired to change, 
and changes the gallop, if he is agile, on the mere 
change of the bend of neck and raising of the 
hand accompanied by a transfer of the weight of 
the body of the rider to the other stirrup, and 
does not Avait for the offside leg or whip aid or 
punishment. 



140 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 



Way of teacliing. 

The lounge is the best material way of instruc- 
ting the horse for the purpose of rendering him t 
supple and preparing him (as far as his conforma- 
tion allows it) to keep collected in the hand when 
the time will come to ride him. It is explained in 
the Arte di Oavalcare (Devoti - JSaJo, Lacfo di^ 
Qarda - 1894). 

In the eighteenth century the Earl of Pem-'| 
broke recognized the advantage of instructing hor- ' 
ses with the lounge which was inyented at Naples* 
by a Prince Pignatelli in the sixteenth century 
when many Neapolitan noblemen taught riding.' 
Monsieur De la Broue et Monsieur de Pluvinel' 
were among Prince Pignatelli' s pupils. ' 

To teach him to do particular actions and to 
accustom him to be touched, to be caressed, to be^ 
groomed, to give up his feet, not to be afraid of! 
wearing harness and not to fear many objects, the' 
horse must be made to stand still, isolated, held 
by two men with two lounges attached to the two^ 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 141 

side-rings of the cavesson or led by them at a 

short walk, according to what is most suited to 

teach the special action wanted. The two men hold 

the horse with the lounges at one or two yards 

I distance or more as it seems best to the teacher. 

I Held in this way the horse is held and has 

,! the appearance of being free. It helps a great deal 

j to keep him in submission and make him learn 

I more quickly and thus the teacher is not trou- 
i 
bled with holding the horse himself and is free to 

i do all that is necessary for teaching him. The 

1 teacher may hold a third lounge if he finds it of 

I assistance to teach a special action. 

While the horse is held standing still isolated 

or led at a short walk the two men must leave 

the horse in a natural position of head and neck, 

not high and not low. The two men ought never 

to allow the liorse to press, to draw against them 

or to lean on their lounges but should resist by 

oi)posing intermittentl}^ the weight of their body 

put on the lounges. 

The two men must hold the horse standing 

still or draw him forward at a short walk, stop 



142 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 



liim, or pull hiin forward intermittently with gra- 
dual action and not by jerks, as required by the ^ 
teacher according as it is suited to teach that spe- 
cial action. The two men must know of themselves \ 
how and when the aids and punishments of the j 
lounge on the cavesson are to be applied. ^ 

To teach a restless horse to allow himself to be s 
caressed, groomed and to give up his feet it would i^ 
be better to put him between two wooden pillars ? 
or four. Putting the horse between four pillars •• 
might also he useful in trying to show a horse i 
which was illtreated previously, that you do not : 
want to illtreat him. Between four pillars you can j 
caress him without being in danger of being hurt, s 
The two front pillars have a ring on the front 
side for attaching the head through two lounges 
at the two side-rings of the cavesson and the other 
two pillars must be situated at the two sides of 
the horse in front of the middle of his body so ^ 
that he cannot go across. 

For the teacher to be more sheltered six pil- » 
lars Avould be still better, the last two being in 
front of the croup. 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 143 

The ideas which are afterwards translated into 
! actions by the horse originate in objects, or events, 
I or aids which have made an impression upon his 

senses of sight, hearing or touch and on his ins- 

I 

j tincts. Acting upon his senses by objects, impres- 
sions and aids, we may produce in him associations 

I 
calculated to give rise to the ideas of the actions 

we wish him to perform or which we desire to 

i teach him. We give him the idea of coming to- 

I wards us by showing him the sieve in which he is 

I given oats. The horse does not come to us for our 

isake but for the sake of the oats which are in the 

sieve, which he knows to be in the sieve, but the 

i 

oats call forth in him also the idea of coming 
to us. 

To teach the horse a movement or cause him 
iito perform a movement we must first of all: 
I 1. Inspire him with the idea of it by showing 
him some object connected with it, by giving him 
la suitable aid, and then by whatever means, find 
ithe way to constrain him to put the idea in practice. 
I 2. As soon as he makes tlie movement (whe- 
ther well or badly does not matter) signs of appro- 



144 HOW THE HORHB LEARNS 

val must be shown by the conciliatory voice sound 
and by caresses, in order that he may understand 
that he has done what Avas required of him. 

3. A sign, sound, gesture, is associated with 
the movement which he performs and so he learns 
to perform it at that sound or gesture. This asso- 
ciation can be given simultaneously with teaching 
the movement which must be repeated at intervals 
(so as not to annoy the horse) in order that he may f 
learn it thoroughly and, if he refuses to repeat it, i 
threats or even punishments may be used to give , 
him the idea that by repeating it he avoids punish- i* 
ment. In many cases the sign, the sound of the i 
voice by which it is intended to teach him to do 
the desired action, are used also when giving rise 
in him to the idea of it, and when first compel- 
ling him to execute it. 

These three thinc/s should be done in their or- 
der as above. He cannot be taught to make the 
movement before he has conceived the idea of it. 
It cannot be required that he should perform the 
movement at a given sign before he has learnt how 
to perform it, 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 145 



He must first be given the idea of traversing 
by compelling him with the reins to place himself 
in traverse, must afterwards be taught the material 
action of traversing by compelling him to traverse, 
and then we must teach him to carry out the 
action of traversing to the aids of the reins and 
pressure of the leg. 

If it is attempted to teach him to traverse by 
dint of punishments whilst his body is not prepa- 
red and he does not know how, he is surprised 
and disturbed by it, and feels pain in the legs, and 
if he is of a timid nature he experiences fear and 
I dislike, or if he is of a spirited nature he is irri- 
jtated by it and makes oppositions and reactions. 

I Teaching the horse to advance at a given sound 

of the voice. 

The first things to be taught the horse are : 
to move forward quietly at a walk on being 
drawn forward by the lounges and at a given sound 
of the voice which it is desired to use as a signal 
to make him advance; 



10 



.1 



146 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

to stop (Mid stand still on being opposed by the 
lounges, which prevent him from advancing, at I 
another given sound of the voice which it is desired 
to use to make him stop and stand still. j 

The act of advancing on being drawn forward 
and at a given sound of the voice is taught in this 
way. By gentle intermittent pulls of the lounges he 
is invited to advance, being in the meantime threa- 
tened behind with the whip, and at the same time 
the voice signal, at which it is desired to accustom 
him to start, is repeatedly given. He may under- 
stand his being pulled forward to mean that he is ^ 
desired to go forward, but he may object to it. 
The threat with the whip behind gives him the 
idea of going forward and induces him to advance 
because by advancing he flees a pain with which \ 
he is threatened or which is inflicted behind and 
which is represented by the whip. 

When he comes forward, the fact of ceasing to ^ 
urge him to do so by pulling him, and of ceasing 
the threat with the whip, while we caress him, 
and give the conciliatory voice sound, shows a]7- 
proval of his coming forward, of his coming to i^s. 



tff/W THfi fiOSsi5 LElfiNS 147 

Thi^ beiag re|bf(^ate3 a few times he learfiS to ad- 
Yaiice or come to us On beittg- pulled forward at a 
^j given Mide signat arid afterwards at this voice si^fial 
\ alone without bfeiflg pulled. 

^ If whilst inviting hirti to advance by intermit- 
'\ tenft ptllls at the loithges' T<^e tiirn towards him and 
I we gor backwards receding from him, his seeing 
i'lts re6edfe ftom himf by walkiiifg backward, IliviteS 
I him still mote to come forward. He will mat bfe 
jthtfS incited t6 advafl6e if th^ person he sees in 
; fi^otft has |)reviotfSly ill-treated him while ttirned 
to^var^g him, because the position of thus facing 
him is asso'eia;t6d with the infliction of punishment. 

It is underst(>od that the same sotind of tfi6 
voice mitst Always be employed for the sanae action 
of advancing. After a few repetitions he advances 
at the voice signal alone without being ptJUed and 
vfithout threat of the whip behind because he re- 
members these aids, and if by chance he do6s not 
remember tliem, he is agaiili pulled forAva'rd an^d 
menaced anew with the whip behind. 

The succession of these pWceedings is i^ a!ccor- 
dance with the rules stated. Drawing him foi'ward 



148 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

has given liim the idea of advancing, but perhaps 
gave liim also the idea of violence, of his being 
compelled, and the idea of resistance. The whip 
behind has contributed to persuading him to exe- 1 
cute the action of forward motion by giving him 
the idea that it is good for him to go forward in 
order to avoid being struck behind with the whip 
(which is for him an evil) and has induced him 
to perform the action of going forward. 

The association of the sound of the voice which 
has several times accompanied the forward motion, 
has taught him that this sound signifies that he ' 
is to advance. The association of the whip shown 
him from behind, which is a thing he understands 
naturally, has served to induce him to go forward 
at the voice signal which alone he could iu)t 
understand. 

As in drawing him forward we also advance 
and present ourselves to him sideways, he thus 
learns that our standing sideways to him and ad- 
vancing are signals to advance. 

As in making him change hands, whilst he is 
moving in a circle led by the lounge, he av as made 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 149 



to slacken his pace, and the lonnge was drawn 
and folded np and then he also was drawn inwards 
and we, in doing this, made some steps backwards, 
he learns that pulling him inwards, folding the 
lounge and our going back, mean a change of the 
ihand and that our receding means that he is to 
I advance. 

Advancing at a given sound of the voice is the 
j first thing to be taught the horse because it is a 

I great advantage on many occasions to be able to 
jmake use of this voice signal to cause him to 
! advance either alone or as a preliminary to other 

riding aids. It serves to keep the horse intent on 
i advancing without giving other aids for that pur- 
'Ipose. The voice aids to advance and the whip aids 
! associated with the leg and spur aids teach those 

II horses to advance who, owing to their nature would 
1 be excited to react at giving them the spurs alone. 

,: Teaching ilie horse to stoj) and re^nain still at 
another given sound of the voice, and to go hackwards. 

Whilst the horse is walking led by two or 
three lounges, or even by one, and we advance in 



160 now THE nORSE LEARNS 

ffQjiit pf Uim, slightly to one side or on his flank, 
he i$ taught to stop at a given soua(^ of the voice | 
(at which it is intended to liabituate him to stop , 
ajid tp riemain still) by uttering this sound and • 
forthwith associating with it our going in front j 
of him and previenting him from advancing by \ 
oppositions with the lounges on the cavessoa ii 
(which is a physical action and which he unders- ; 
tands by himself,) and immediately on his having « 
stopped, by caressing him and giving the conci- ] 
iiatory voice sound. After some repetitions the hor- 
se associates the voice aids for stopping with being 
stopped and caressed and with the conciliating \ 
voice, and stops at tjie sound of tlie voice ak)ne 
without needing the material action of being stop- 
ped by oppositions on the lounges. 

As in going to stop him we walked with our 
face turned towards liiin, he has likewise Learnt 
that our going up to him turned towards him 
means that he is to stop. 

He is sent a step back by pressing the caves- ] 
son with the lounge against his head, keeping it 
straight and h)w, and with this is associated a n 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 161 



cjertain other sound of the voice which it is desi- 
red to use in order to make him recede, and as 
soon as he puts a leg back he is caressed and gi- 
ven the conciliatory voice sound. He associates 
that sound with the backward pressure of the lounge 
and with going backwards, and after those repe- 
titions which are necessary to make him remem- 
ber, he goes backwards on the mere sound of the 
voice, only however if he is very obedient, because 
going backwards is inconvenient to him and he 
does not do so willingly. Going backwards can 
also be associated with the backward pressure of 
the hand against the muzzle, against the neck or 
against the chest. 

Stopping at a given sound of the voice and re- 
maining still, and quieting down at the signal of 
a conciliating voice sound are the most necessary 
and useful tilings under very many circumstances. 
The first time the foal is ridden he does not know 
how to stop on being pulled in by the hand, but 
if he has been taught to stop at a given sound of 
the voice he may be stopped by this aid accompa- 
nied by pulling the reins, and learns to stop on 



152 HOW THE HORSE LEAENS 

being held back by tbe reins, even if the actifni 
of the reins excites him to run on, as is the case 
Avith some horses. In like manner if he has been 
taught the conciliating voice sound used to quiet ' 
him in case of fear he may be tranquillised (^ui 
hearing it when afraid. 

W(if/ of teacMmj him to stand still alone. 



The horse can be taught to stand still alone, r 

but we must not rely on his standing still alone i 

if we stand far from him. The overw(n-ked horse r 
and the ill-fed horse can stand still if left standing. 

The well-fed and rested horse cannot stand still ^ 

because it is contrary to the excitability inherent i 

in his nature, which is only overcome b)^ exces- l( 
sive fatigue. Even the much fatigued horse very 

often does not stand still when he is of an exci- i 

table nature. If there comes to him the idea of \ 
going to the stable or if he is seized with fear, 

and is left alone, he escapes. ^ 

It is said that the Arab horse waits for his ) 
master. This may be because he has grown up 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 153 



together with man and because, not having pastu- 
res, he must expect his food from man. Even the 
Arabs however tie their horses, and tie them to a 
picket embedded in the ground, passing the tether 
round the pastern of a fore-leg. (This method of 
tethering is perliaps better, or perhaps is a neces- 
sity in places without trees, and seems to have less 
objections than other methods of tying the horse). 
It is true that there are many other reasons for 
keeping him tethered, but if they keep him tethe- 
red it must be presumed tliat even the Arabs do 
not believe that the horse waits for his master. 

It is possible to teach, or rather to endeavour 
to teach the horse to stand still alone, in the fol- 
lowing way. He is placed in the centre of an iso- 
lated spot (preferably in tlie riding school) where 
there are no distracting causes, and is held (he 
may be held first by two men witli two lounges) 
by a black thin cord so that it should not be very 
visible, attached in front to the cavesson or to the 
back of the liead strap just as nlien he is taught 
to walk with a cord. You walk around him on 
one side and on the other, caress him, giving often 



1&4: SOW THE HORSE LEAKNS 

the conciliatory voice sound and then move away » 
little by little, so that he does not notice it, conti- ) 
nuing intermittently to give him the conciliatory 
voice sound. 

As soon as it is seen that he is about to move, 
it is necessary to go up to him, and if he has mo- 
ved to put him quietly back into his place giving 
him the conciliatory voice. Gare must be taken 
however to prevent this and go up to him before 

he moves. After he has been put back in his place )i 

i 

several times it may also be useful to make use 
somewhat of a threatening tone and slight puni- 
shment if he moves, if his nature allows it. This 
punishment should only be given after we have 
tried to keep him still for a quarter of an hour 
every day for many days. The end of his lesson 
is the best time to teach this because he is then i 
in a more obedient mood and is more disposed to i 
remain still as he has been in motion until that J 
moment. * 

Tlie conclusion of this instruction will however 1 
be that after having done much, it will be seen ( 
that the end is not attained, because it is contrary 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 165 

to the natural excitability of the horse, which 
iiVJites him to run from no greater cause than the 
stir of a leaf. 

/Substitution of other aids 

or other signals for those hy which the horse has 

learnt to perform the actions taught. 

Having first learnt to perform an action, and 
afterwards to perform it at a given sound, gesture, 
or signal by hand or on a given aid, if it is (Jesi- 
re.d, another signal may be substituted by associa- 
ting it with the first signal whilst the horse is 
performing such movement on the fir-st signal, the 
movement being repeated until he has learnt to 
do it at the ncAV signal. This new sigpal should 
be used in a clear and marked way so as to ^nake 
an impression on him, and he must at the same 
time be compelled to perform the action. Thus 
Avhen the horse is isolated and standing still, being 
held by two men at one, two or three or more 
yards from him with two lounges attached to the 
two side-rings of the cavesson, if whilst the voice 



156 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

aid for moving is given a forward gesture is made 
with an arm and hand as though to show the way, 
and these two signs are accompanied by a threat 
with the whip behind, which compels him to ad- 
vance, he soon learns that at such a gesture he 
must advance without its being accompanied by 
the advancing voice signal. 

Thus whilst the horse advances at a walk, 
conducted by the two lounges, if we associate the 
voice stopping signal with a thoroughly visible and 
conspicuous signal, such as would be that of rai- 
sing the hand, and having him stopped directly by 
the two men holding him with the two lounges, 
this makes him understand that this signal is for 
him to stop. 

Touching or striking one of his forelegs with 
the tip of the whip behind the knee is an aid 
which means he is to lift that fore-leg and throw 
out his foot. For the touching and striking with 
the wliip behind the knee may be substituted the 
signal of pointing the tip of the whip to the leg 
without touching it managing as follows. 

The Avhip is pointed conspicuously in the di- 



HOW THE HORSE liEABNS 157 

rection of the knee, and a moment later lie is 
struck rather heavily behind the knee and also is 
given the voice sound used for making him go. 
This voice sound for exciting motion aids in exci- 
ting him to move his leg, because it is an order 
to advance, i. e. to move his leg which he already 
knows, and as the left leg is touched he raises it 
and moves it. After some repetitions he under- 
stands and remembers that pointing the tip of the 
whip in the direction of liis leg means that he is 
to raise the leg and paw with it, and he does so 
without waiting to be given the whip punishment 
at the back of the knee, which was given at other 
times after the whip had been pointed to the knee. 
Eor the signal of pointing the whip to the 
knee may easily be substituted a gesture towards 
the knee with the extended arm and hand. Stan- 
ding to the left of him facing the left shoulder, a 
very conspicuous gesture is made with the exten- 
ded left arm towards the left foreleg in the di- 
rection of the knee and the whip is kept stret- 
ched out along our right leg pointed downwards 
so that he should not see it. The left arm is with- 



158 ^ow THE Morse LeahnS 

drftwn £tftd stgsAii si signitl is tiidde ifl the dirfe^tio^i 
of tbe left leg and the Mak ot the knee i§ shatjr- 
Ij stl-uck t^itfe th^' whip held in the right hand 
while the t^oice sound foil' going is git^en ^imtilt^ 
neously. The whip is then imiiiediately Mddeti 
along otir right leg. 

After he bas h^eu naade to repeat the raising 
of the fore-leg in this wUf sereral times the h6*f^e 
learris to raise it at the signatl with the left aria 
and hand stretched out towards the leg, ttithoiit 
waiting until the leg is strnck with the whip. Im- 
itfediately after he has raised Ms" leg he naust each 
time he eaf^esse^i on tWe n€ck and eyes asnd givetf 
the coftciliatOiry voice soniM, in order to shots^ 
approval of the actio'ti performed and tell him 
tt^at it was the action desired. In order to teach 
him to raise the right fore-lesg \te place ourselves 
(Opposite the right shoiilder, make a sign with the 
right arm and strike him with the #hip held in 
the feft hand hidden aloiig the left leg. 

If we associate a word, (Avliich for hinii is st 
^ound) to the sigrt to Which we have taught him to^ 
execiite an Action, the horse Will learn- to execute 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 159 

the action at the word and we have the stibstitu- 
tion of the word for the sign. 

It is not true that the horse 

guesses ivhat it is desired to make him cto when 

he is led with the lounge or ridden. 

The horse keeps well in mind the lounge and 
whip aids and the points, of the riding school to 
which we go in order to induce him to go to 
other points, and thes aids which are given him 
on horseback and which are employed to make 
I him go through the various movements, and even 
jthe special motions we make in the saddle with 
jOur body unconsciously before giving him the va- 
rious aids required to make him go through the 
'required actions. 

Erom these motions, constantly made before 
j.giving him the aids suited to putting him through 
[the various actions, the horse understands and 
foresees the action which it is desired to make him 
[perform and the aids which will be given him, 
land does not wait for them but executes forthwith 



160 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 



the action which it is intended to make him go , 
through. I 

In order to make him change hand when led . 
by the lounge we cause him to slacken his pace , 
and shorten the lounge foldin,<^ it up, then we pull , 
liim towards the centre, and in doing so we our- 
selves go back. The horse which has observed all 
these things, on the first motion made with the 
arms to fold up the lounge has immediately under- 
stood that it is desired to make him change, and 
lie comes to tlie centre to change without waiting ( 
for other signs or aids. 

On horseback his being made to go through i, 
an action is preceded by the various preparatory 
aids, and the rider, when he has conceived the idea ( 
of putting him through an action, unknoAvingly - 
prepares himself to give him the required aids by 
making special motions with his body, or gives 
the first aid by habit without noticing that he does 
so. The horse which is attentive has understood 
from these special motions or from the first aid 
inadvertently given Avliat his rider desires, and ; 
does it without waiting for the otlier aids. 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 161 

Thus he goes aside on every inclination of the 
body on one side ; he traverses immediately on 
more weight being put upon one stirrup and does 
not wait for the hand and leg aid; he gallops 
immediately on being bent in and raised, and does 
not wait for the outside leg aid. Slackening speed 
and stopping on horseback is always associated 
with inclining the body backward, and the horse, 
which has already observed this many times, has 
understood that the inclining of the body back- 
wards by the rider signifies stopping, and stops on 
the body being inclined backwards without waiting 
to be forced to stop by the hand. 
I It is therefore not the horse who guesses the 
intentions of his rider but the rider himself who 
reveals liis intentions to his horse by his inadver- 
i tently-made motions or aids. This fact of the horse 
j foreseeing what he will be called upon to do is 
J good, because he prepares himself, but it is bad 
I when the horse anticipates and makes the evolu- 
i'tions before the aids are given him by the rider 
(as in doing so he liolds back and does not make 
ithem in the fine raised position which would be 



11 



162 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 



*' 



desirable. To avoid his thus making movements in J 
advance it is necessary to prevent him making | 
them, so as to show that he must not make them ., 
before he receives orders, i. e. aids. * 

Things which the horse is taught 
for spectacular purposes. 

For teaching most of the following special 
things, as has already been said, it is better to have J 
the horse held isolated by two men with two loun- ,j 
ges attached to the two side-rings of the cavesson 
at one, two, or three yards or more distance from 
the horse as best suited to teach the action. 

It appears that the things Avhich horses are now , 
made to perform in circuses are of ancient date., 
Oaracciolo and Oorte of Pavia, writers of the 16.th 
century, in order to prove the intelligence of horses, 
mention the marvellous games whi(;h they perfor-, 
med. They should liave said that these games per- 
formed by the horses in the circus proved on the, 
contrary the cleverness and intelligence of the men ^ 
who h«*id taught them. They did such surprising. 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 163 

things that at Aries a Neapolitan and his horse 
were burnt for practising magic, and the same fate 
befell Bankes' horse Morocco which is mentioned 
by Shakespeare. 

Things are marvellous to those who do not see, 
do not understand how they are done, and circus 
masters have kept up this idea of their marvel- 
lousness by keeping them secret. The circus master 
tells the horse in a loud voice to perform a given 
action. He gives this order in order to let the 
public hear it. Of course the horse does not under- 
stand it. But the circus master together with the 
words of command uttered in order to be heard 
by the public, gives the horse the signal at which 
he has taught him to perform the movement with- 
out the public perceiving or noticing it. Thus in 
the eyes of the public the horse has carried out 
the order uttered, but in reality he has carried out 
the order given by the signal. 

The circus master speaks to the horse in order 
to deceive the public and gives him the signal 
on which he has previously taught him to perform 
the movement commanded aloud. In order to teach 



164 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

the various actions perspicacity is required in the < 
master and it is further necessary to know how I 
to choose horses of suitable intelligence. All the 
actions performed in the circus are done in this 
way ; the spoken order is given in order that it ^ 
should be heard by the public and the horse is 
made to carry out that order by a certain signal. 
The horse is taught to perform many actions, 
but separately on different signals, and afterwards 
he is made to perform a complex action, i. e. to 
perform several simple actions one after the other, ^ 
so as to represent a reasoned process. A handker- 
chief is hidden under a heap of sand at a spot in ' 
the circus over which the horse will be made to 
pass. He is ordered to look for it and bring it and 
he is made to go at a walk to the spot where it 
is hidden. Having arrived at one step from the 
heap of sand among which the handkerchief is 
hidden the circus master makes the sign to stop^ 
and the horse stops ; by another sign he tells him 
to paw the ground, and being at the right distance 
from the heap, the heap is destroyed and the 
handkerchief is found. By another sign he tells 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 165 

the horse to seize it with his teeth and the horse 
seizes the handkerchief with his teeth and carries 
it. These actions have been taught separately and 
joined together by the circus master in order to 
make it appear that the horse has himself thought 
of looking for the handkerchief and bringing it, 
Avhilst the horse has performed the several actions 
on the several signals associated with them. By 
repeating these actions the horse also remembers 
them and does them better and more readily, and 
I think that the horse which has many times 
sought the handkerchief comes to understand that 
the heap of sand contains the handkerchief. 

It is the same as regards making the horse 
write the name of a city or of a spectator. The 
letters of the alphabet designed on pieces of thin 
planking attached at a right angle to other pieces 
of planking to make them stand upright and easy 
to grasp with the teeth are arranged on the ground 
in a circle at intervals of one yard or more. To 
produce the illusion in the spectators the circus 
master with a loud voice commands the horse to 
write a name and makes him walk round inside 



160 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS ' 



the circle formed by the letters and he accom- , 

panics the horse walking some steps away from j 

him in a smaller circle. Whilst the horse, wal- 

I 
king in the circle formed by the letters, amves 

at the iirst letter of the name Aviiich he is to write , 

the circus master gives him tlie signal to stop, and, ^ 

immediately after, the signal to seize the letter, , 

and immediately after, the signal to come to him. , 

When the horse brings him the letter the circus , 

master draws back to the centre of the circle, ) 

takes the letter t\"om. his mouth and places it on | 

the ground. This being done the circus master | 

makes the horse walk round in the circle anew 

and bring successively the other letters in the order f 

required to form the name. Thus the name is j 

formed, but it is not the horse which has formed 

it. The horse has seized and brought the several 

letters on the signals to seize them and bring them. 

The signs with which it is usual to make the ^ 

horse stop whilst he is walking in the circle are: j 

to make a step towards him and stop opposite tlie . 

shoulder or the bead, as thus no motive for advan- , 

cing or receding is given, and to point the tip of 



HOW THE HORSE LEAENS 167 

the whip a little in front of the fore legs near the 
ground which is a threat against advancing, and 
to go and caress him. The signals for starting and 
advancing are : raising the whip, the master's turn- 
ing to him his side, walking and menacing him 
with the whip, swinging it round high and back- 
wards and in the same direction as the horse is 
to go. When he has learnt to stop promptly on the 
stopping signal he can be ordered to point out tlie 
person who has a special coat or hat because the 
master will give him the signal to stop when the 
liorse reaches the person wearing it. 

For teacliing to apparently choose and form 
words the circus master in making the liorse go 
round in the circle holds him with a thin black 
cord attached first to the middle ring of a light 
cavesson and later at the back of the cavesson to 
sliow less. The cord must be thin and black for 
tlie purpose that the horse may not notice it and 
may believe himself free. The cord is left not 
stretched and is only used if necessar}' to oblige 
the horse to go in the circle and not outside and 
to stop. 



168 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 



Teaching the horse to be afraid ' 

of a man dressed in red, not to be afraid 
of a man dressed in white, 
to be afraid of a given object or of a given place. 

A servant dissuaded his mistress from tlie idea, 
which involved great trouble to liim, of keeping i 
a number of cats, by making them appear posses- ' 
sed by demons. He did it in this way. He gave ' 
them food, and whilst they were eating drew from i 
his pocket a long, strong and thick rosary, and 
whipped them. After having made them run about ^ 
for some time by beating them he replaced the ' 
rosary in his pocket and allowed them to eat. Tims 
the cats learnt not to eat on being shown the ' 
rosary aud to eat when the rosary was replaced in 
the pocket. 

This man possessed sagacity. Bad or good asso- ; 
ciations may be coupled with anything. A bad 
association may be coupled with red clothing and 
the horse may be taught to be afraid of the red 
clothing by having him severely ill-treated by ' 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 169 

a man dressed in red. Good associations may be 
coupled with white ch)thing and he may be taught 
not to be afraid of white clothing by causing him 
to be caressed and to be given something to eat 
by a man dressed in white. 

Evil associations may be coupled with any 
object and he may be taught to be afraid of it by 
presenting the object to him and having him frigh 
tened or beaten by someone, and ceasing to beat 
him on making the object disappear from his sight. 
The appearance of the object before him is asso- 
ciated with his being beaten. The disappearance 
of the object is associated with the cessation of 
beating. 

An Abbot of Brittany in the thirteenth century 
had several fine horses. A nephew wanted to have 
a particularly good one and the abbot would not 
let him have it. As the abbot was accustomed to 
read his breviary on horseback the nephew taught 
the horse to make jumps when the breviary was 
taken out by taking it out and exciting him to 
jump. When next the abbot went for a ride the 
horse did not fail to make jumps when he took 



170 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

out the breyiary and the abbot was afraid and 
believed the horse had grown vicious and gave 
him to his nephew. 

The horse may be caused to acquire dislike 
and fear of a given place by guiding him to that 
place repeatedly and there always having him 
beaten. Passing along the place in which he was 
always beaten, this place recalls to his mind the 
punisliments and makes him afraid and he desires 
to escape or turn back. The associations of fear and 
those of ill-treatment coupled with given objects 
do not need to be repeated many times in order ■ 
to be learnt. With many horses once is sufficient i 
whilst the associations of caresses coupled with gi- 
ven objects must be repeated many times in order 
to be remembered bv other horses. 



Teaehing him to seise with the teeth. 

As has been stated, in order to teach him spe- 
cial actions in which ^valking is not required the 
horse must be made to stand still alone, held by 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 171 

two men each about one, two or three yards or 
more away from him, with two lounges attached 
to the cavesson. 

The idea of seizing with the teeth and the ac- 
tion of seizing with the teeth are called forth in 
him by holding in front of liis mouth an object, 
not a hard one so that he sliould not have an un- 
pleasant sensation in seizing it, but one which is 
thin and easy for him to seize, and by pinching 
him beliind the second bone of the shoulder where 
he feels tickling. Pinching him gives rise in liim 
to the idea of biting, excites him to bite in order 
to stop the tickling irritation and ihe excitation 
due to the pinches, and iinding in front of his 
mouth the object held there, he bites the object. 
The voice signal to advance which lie already 
knows may assist in exciting him to bite the object 
if associated with the pinches. 

As soon as he bites and seizes the object the 
pinching is stopped, he is caressed and spoken to 
soothingly, and is given something to eat which he 
likes; so he understands that the action he is requi- 
red to perform is to seize the object with his 



172 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

teeth. The tirst time he seizes it he lets it go imme- 
diately. Afterwards, in order that he should learn , 
to hold it fast for some little time, he is pinched 
again immediately on his letting it go, and then he 
seizes it again, the pinching being stopped as soon 
as he takes hold of the object afresh, and so on , 
several times. Subsequently it is only necessary , 
to make as if one were about to pinch him by j 
adTancing the hand, and he seizes the object held 
in front without waiting to be pinched. This is j 
equivalent to seizing at a signal, at an indication 
by the hand. 

Afterwards the object which he has seized many 
times is placed before him and this recalls to him 
the associated idea of seizing it and he seizes it 
forthwith and has learnt to seize the object on its 
merely being presented to him. The object he has 
learnt to seize has always been the same, but then 
(me may proceed to make him seize others. Thus 
by small changes at a time, from the idea of bi- 
ting the horse has been conducted to the idea of 
seizing by various signals of diminishing conspi- 
cuousness. 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 173 

The object which he is accustomed to seize is 
held in front of him h^wer, and he is made to 
seize it h>wer. It is placed on the .ground, and he 
seizes it on the ground. It is taken from his mouth 
and he is caressed and given something to eat, and 
waits for it to be taken from his mouth in order 
to have this something to eat. We draw back a 
little in doing this and the idea comes to him of 
following after, with the object in his mouth, so 
that it may be taken out and he may be given 
the morsel to eat which has been given to him at 
other times. Thus by various successions of small 
modifications, from the idea of biting called forth 
at first he is conducted to carrying and bringing 
an object held in his mouth. 

Teaching him to raise his legs alternately 
and linoclt' at the door. 

Standing at the side of the left fore-leg whilst 
tlie horse is held by two men distant one, two, 
three or more yards from him with two lounges 
and looking at the horse's eye, with the whip 



174 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

held in the right hand we touch the left foreleg 
just behind the knee or the shin and this touching 
is repeated with increasing strength until becom- 
ing vexed he gives a forward stroke with the 
foot. With this may further be associated the ad- 
vancing voice signal in order to incite him to 
move his leg as said above. As soon as he makes 
this movement with his leg he is spoken to sooth- 
ingly and caressed, i. e. approval is shown and he 
understands that touching him with the whip be- 
hind the knee means that he is to raise his left 
leg and make a pawing movement. 

Standing at the side of the right leg and looking 
at the eye of the horse, with the whip held in the 
left hand we touch the right foreleg just behind 
the knee or the shin, and this touching is repea- 
ted until becoming vexed he raises his leg and 
makes a pawing movement. He is immediately 
caressed and he understands that touching him with 
the whip means that he is to raise his right fore- 
leg and make this movement. This raising of the 
leg is taught him in order to prepare him to go 
through the Spanish, walk (short trot with very 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 175 

high action) and to teach him to knock at the 
door. 

In order to teach him to knock at the door 
he is placed close to the door at snch a distance 
that in making the pawing movement he touches 
the door and produces the noise of rapping. On 
making this pawing movement and on the above 
noise being heard he is caressed, and immediately 
understands rapping at the door. 

From touching and striking the fore-legs be- 
hind the knee in order that he may raise them, 
we may proceed to make him raise them on a sig- 
nal being given by pointing the whip towards 
them. The whip is very markedly pointed towards 
the back of the knee and held pointed for one 
moment and the voice signal for advancing being 
given the back of the knee is struck rather hard 
if he does not raise the leg. A few repetitions of 
this teach him to raise the fore-leg on the mere 
pointing of the whip towards the leg without wait- 
ing for it to be struck. 

From making him raise the left fore-leg on a 
signal by the ^^ hip pointed towards the leg ^ve may 



176 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

proceed to make him raise it at a sign with the hand 
and arm extended towards the leg. We must look 
the horse in the eye and make a marked sign with 
the left hand and arm extended in the direction 
of the left fore-leg, holding them in that position 
a moment. The arm is withdrawn and after a short 
interval the left arm is anew markedly extended 
towards the left fore-leg, inciting the horse with 
the Toice sound used for making him go and the 
leg is struck with the whip behind the knee. The 
whip must be held in the right hand, quite hidden 
along our right leg, and should not draw the atten- 
tion of the horse, not even at the moment when 
the leg is struck behind the knee. The entire at- 
tention of the horse should be attracted to tlie left 
arm extended towards the left leg, and in order 
that it should draw the attention of the horse the 
arm is held pointed towards the left leg before 
striking it, when striking it and a while after stri- 
king it. Thus the horse associates the arm exten- 
ded towards the left leg with its being struck, and 
after a few repetitions learns to raise the leg on 
seeing the arm directed towards the leg without 
waiting to be struck. 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 177 

In this way the horse has learnt that pointing 
towards the leg, making a signal towards the leg 
with the whip or with the arm and hand stretched 
out, precedes striking the leg, and he does not wait 
for it to be struck, raising it forthwith. If the voice 
sound upy up is associated with striking him behind 
the knee he learns to raise the leg at this sound. 
The same method with suitable modifications is 
used to teach him to raise the right leg at the 
signal of the right arm extended in the direction 
of the right leg. 

In order to teach him to kick with a hind 
foot and strike at the door with a hind foot the 
horse is held in an isolated position by two lounges, 
with his hind feet in the proximity of the door 
of the riding school and is excited with the tip 
|()f the whip at the pasterns of the hind legs until 
in anger he gives a kick that makes a noise aga- 
linst the door which he hears. The teacher imme- 
j/diately goes up to his head, caresses him, speaking 
|to him conciliatingly, and he learns that kicking 
|or striking at the door is what he is desired 
|to do. 



12 



178 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 



TeacMng him to do the Spanish ivaJk. 

In a preceding paragraph he has been taught* 
to lift up the two fore-legs and paw with them 
alternately, and these are thus prepared for goingr 
through the Spanish walk. It is now necessary to 
prepare the hind legs, and this is done as follows.! 
The horse is held by two men with two lounges" 
and cavesson. The teacher places himself on thei 
left side of the horse standing somewhat behind 
the shoulder, facing the body of the horse, and 
close to it: with his left hand he holds the reins 
of the snaffle firmly and equally on the withers 
and with his right hand he holds the whip hori 
zontally along the spine with the tip on the croup 
one palm above the rump. In this position witl 
the left hand he prevents the horse, more or less 
as may be required, from advancing, from whicl"! 
he is prevented likewise by the two men holding 
the two lounges, that he may advance little anc^ 
make high movements. 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 179 



While the teacher encourages him by repeated 
voice signals for exciting motion he raises the whip 
and beats with it small and increasing strokes on 
the croup, now on the right and now on the left 
alternately. (Striking always in the middle of the 
vertebral column does just the same as regards 
making him raise first one leg and then the other 
because after one he must move the other.) Thus 
the horse learns to raise the hind legs alternately, 
and allowing him to advance a little he will make 
a few steps of marked trot movement. 

This exercise must be repeated many times for 
many days in order that he should learn to do the 
Spanish walk, biit it should be kept short only 
lasting a few minutes each time with intervals of 
rest during which his head is left free. He should 
be allowed to hold his head rather low when doing 
it, in order to facilitate his raising the hind legs. 
The holding back is necessary in order to force 
him to make short and high movements. If he is 
not held back he advances and makes extended 
movements. After he has learnt to do the Spanish 
walk held in this fashion he will do it when rid- 



180 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

den if excited by aids for going and held back by 
the hand. 

I haTe described how circus masters teach their 
tricks in order to show how the horse learns but 
horses meant for ordinary use ought never to be 
taught tricks as it only spoils them and this is 
particularly true of what is called the Spanish 
walk and the school jumps. 

In the sixteenth century school jumps were 
much in vogue and all knights were anxious to show ^ 
their skill in making their horses do them for the 
sake of being admired by the ladies who sat in the ^ 
balcony as it was then the custom. 

Olaudio Oorte a nobleman of Pavia, who wasi 
some time in the service of Queen Elizabeth, ju- 
diciously noted that school jumps had no practical 
utility, damaged horses and were not to be tauglit' 
to horses intended for military use as they might 
mistake the aids of hand and spurs given to make^ 
them run and believe themselves requested to make^ 
school jumps Avith the consequence of the rider' 
being easily killed by the enemy. 

In the eighteenth century Nicolo Rosselmini a' 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 181 

nobleman of Pisa who was the first to study the 
horse's mechanism made the same remark about 
too much union as it much diminishes the pace. 
I What is wanted by the rider is that the horse 
I should go well and that he should be able to control 
i him. This was known to Xenophon as well as other 
i things which seem to be ignored nowadays. 

Imitation is a means of teaching. 

Imitation is performing the same action as 
! others perform, and arises from association of exam- 
ple ; it is a better means than any other of teach- 

I ing and persuading a horse to go through an 

II action in case of fear or repugnance. The example 
' of another horse going away from him gives him 
ij the idea of imitating him, of following him. This 
tl action is contributed to also, to a great extent, by 
( the idea of not wishing to be abandoned, aban- 
{ donment being contrary to his instinct of loving 
i and seeking the companionship of other horses. 

Seeing another horse pass or run in front invites 
and incites him to follow, even if he at first had 



182 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

resisted going forward. If be is afraid to go into 
the water, seeing a man or another horse go in is 
the most persuasive argument to induce liim to do 
so. Seeing another horse pass over a small obsta- 
cle incites him to try to pass over it. The man 
who, having stood still Avith him, begins to walk, 
invites him to imitate and follow him. The man 
who stops whilst walking in front or at the side 
of him invites the horse to imitate him and stop. 

This is due also in great part to the action of 
being pulled forAvard by the lounge which he felt 
when the man was advancing, and from the phy- 
sical opposition which the man made him feel 
with the lounge on stopping, which things he re- 
members. 

If he is afraid of any object and does not wish 
to pass it, seeing the man or another horse go 
ahead is the best mode of persuading him to pass 
it and of getting rid of his fear. It is understood 
that the man must have gained the confidence of 
the horse. If he were afraid of the man he would 
not be encouraged to pass the object of fear becau- 
se he would be afraid even of following the man. ^ 



HOW THE HOESE LEARNS 183 



He sJiouId not he allowed to perform 

actions with an idea and in a niminer contrary 

to the idea of obedience. 

The action of traversing may also be obtained 
from the horse who goes against the spur by ap- 
plying the spur on the side on which it is desired 
to make him traverse instead of the aid given on 
the opposite side, because he traverses on that side 
in order to go against the spur, if he has acqui- 
red the vice of traversing against the spur. This 
he does owing to his resistance and self-will and 
he should not be allowed to do it because it con- 
firms him in the idea of disobedience and reaction. 

Teaching him to leave off doing some action 
which is not desired. 

Teaching him not to perform an action which 
he performs but which is not desired is effected 
by associating it immediately with disapproval or 
pain, represented by threatening look, threatening 



184 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

voice or gesture, and if necessary by punishment 
whenever he does so, until he gives up doing so. 
Dogs and cats are taught not to commit a nuisance 
in the room by rubbing their noses in the refuse. 
They remember this well, as it is a punishment 
which they dislike exceedingly. 

On foot the best means of giving associations 
of disapproval to the horse are the aids and punish- 
ments of the cavesson, because they act upon the 
seat of the intelligence and will and do not give 
rise to reactions as do the whip punishments. On ] 
horseback, in order to show disapproval of the i 
actions he performs and is not desired to perform, ^ 
he may be punished with a whip, by a raising 
action of the hand, and with the spurs, or even e 
by all three together. The whip and hand raising 
punishments are better than the spurs if the horse i 
is excited to react by the spurs and if it has not 
been possible to accustom him to yield to the spurs 
i. e. to advance instead of reacting against them. f| 
The raising action of the hand is a punishment, 
and shows disapprobation and is also a prevention 
of croupades in the horse that throws up the croup 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 185 

on the spurs being applied. Associated witli the 
use of the whip and the spurs it may break him 
of the desire to react against the spurs. 

Necessity of giving the horse the hahit of jierforming 
the actions taught him. 

The actions which animals perform are called 
forth either by the decided will to perform them 
or because the habit of performing them has been 
acquired. The actions performed by habit no lon- 
ger need the direct aid of the will ; they are gone 
through mechanically without thought and without 
being noticed; it is the body which makes these 
movements, acting only like a machine. In order 
to be able to rely on every aid being obeyed and 
producing on the horse the effect of causing him 
to do what he has been taught to do, it is neces- 
sary that he should have been trained to the habit 
of doing so. Then the horse has become a machine, 
and we may be sure that on touching the key we 
shall have the corresponding movement, and then 
alone he can be called trained. 



186 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

Wlieu the liorse is changed into a machine by 
habit, liis disobedience will be an exception only 
in case of strong fear or strong excitement arou- 
sed in him by other horses or by natural instinct. 

Habit is produced in the horse by methodical 
daily repetitions of the actions taught for a certain 
time and in accordance with his mental and phy- 
sical nature. Until the horse has been endowed 
with the habit of obeying the aids and performing 
the ordinary evolutions in the riding school he 
must not be allowed to be ridden by an incapa- 
ble person or outside the riding school, because 
he will be immediately spoilt. 

Repetition is necessary with a view ' 

to niaMnff him learn, maMuf/ him remember, and 
to maintain facility of execution. 

The renewal of the associations is the means of 
impressing them upon the mind, and the repetition 
of the execution of the actions is the means of , 
teaching how to do them and of rendering their . 
execution better and more prompt, finally making , 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 187 

tliem a matter of habit gone through without 
thought or requiring very little attention. The con- 
stant, methodical repetition of the actions tauglit 
is necessary with a view to impressing and obtain- 
ing prompt obedience to the aids and an easy 
execution of the actions. 

It is repetition which teaches, which keeps a 
thing in the memory, removes repugnance to per- 
form a movement, and causes movements to be 
made by habit without being noticed, and when 
tlie horse moves by habit we may be sure that on 
the aids being applied he will go through what 
is required. He learns even illogical things by dint 
of much repetition. Few repetitions should be made 
at a time of the same action, in order not to wea- 
ry and fatigue him, which would give rise in him 
to dislike and opposition to performing the action. 

The habit of performing what is taught only 
comes after many repetitions and after a certain 
time of continuing such repetitions. A certain pe- 
riod of repetition of greater or less length in ac- 
cordance with the memory and retentive faculties 
of the horse is necessary in order that he should 



188 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

acquire the habit of executing the movements. 
Therefore the horse' s training requires a certain 
time and cannot be completed in a few days. Dai- 
ly repetition of the actions learnt is further neces- 
sary with a view to maintaining the ability of the 
body for good and prompt execution. A musical 
performer or a fencing master who remains for 
some days without practice loses something of the 
excellence he had attained. 

How to 7naJie the liorse forget the actions 
taught hy J)ad associations. 

Just as repetition and time are required to 
teacli him the actions we desire should be perfor- 
med, and to create the habit of performing them, 
in the same way repeated prevention is required 
and time to make him forget the habit of perfor- 
ming actions which are not desired when once he 
has acquired it. In the horse which has acquired 
the habit of carrying out some undesired action 
or act of revolt against the rider this habit must 
be broken, and by constant repetitions of the con- 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 189 

trary for some time the habit of doing so must 
be removed and replaced by that of not doing so. 

The time which is required to bring about 
forgetfulness of the habit of performing an action 
which is not desired is proportionate to the length 
of the time the habit has lasted, and to the nature, 
talent and goodwill of the individual horse. In the 
old horse it is more difficult, and more time is 
required to remove the habit of performing an 
action than in a young one. To remove the bad 
association coupled with an object in presence of 
which he was beaten, or with the place in which 
he was beaten, he must be led np to the object 
or to the place, always caressing him, as many 
times as are necessary to persuade him that in the 
presence of the object or in that place instead of 
bad treatment he receives caresses. 

If it is desired to break a horse of the habit 
of performing a bad action the circumstances must 
be known under which he acquired the vice of 
performing it, and he must be placed under the 
same circumstances anew and prevented from per- 
forming the bad action under those circumstances. 



190 HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 

If he does not wish to pass along a place because 
he was ill-treated there or took fright, or an acci- 
dent occurred and he was hurt, he must be led to 
that place, and if he will not go, may be allowed 
to stand a little way behind and be kept standing 
still while caressing him and leaving him free and 
quiet. This must be continued for several days, 
bringing him gradually closer to the place, and 
on seeing that no harm is done him he will gra- 
dually approach the place and pass it, and will 
lose the fear of that place and the memory of the 
fear. If it is a question of removing the habit of 
a movement of revolt, he must be placed under 
the same circumstances under which he has acqui- 
red the habit of performing it, and prevented from 
doing so, and this act of prevention must be repea- 
ted every day until he gives up trying to perform 
the movement, loses the memory of it and acqui- 
res the habit of not performing it. 

If he was ill-treated for some action which he 
performed and learnt to make movements of revolt 
with the special purpose of personal attack, care 
must be taken to hold him in such a wa}^ as not 



HOW THE HORSE LEARNS 191 

to be attacked, and to do nothing to him, not to 
punish him. 

rinding that nothing is done to him the horse 
may cease to make attacks hut this is a difficult 
task to attempt and to obtain as the horse having 
seen his superiority to man very likely will always 
remember it. 






HOW THE HORSE IS TAUGHT 
OBEDIEI!^OE. 



This Chapter contains the theory and rational 
explanation of the mode of procednre which must < 
be adhered to in teaching the horse obedience, 
which must be taught on foot. The practical me- 
thod of teaching obedience on foot is by means of 
the lounge which mode of instruction if practised 
properly improves also the working of the horse' s 
mechanism. Teaching the horse to obey the rider is 
effected by the rider on horseback by teaching him 
to obey the aids of the hands, the aids of legs 5 
and spurs and the aids of the weight of the rider's , 
body. This is explained in The Functions of the { 
Hands in Ridinff (Edmhurfjh, 1888, Turnhull and 
Spears. 



HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 193 

The knowledge of how to acquire the confidence 
and obedience of horses is a special aptitude of 
the peoples to whom horses are indispensable in 
their life in order to avoid falling into the hands 
of the enemy. The reason is that such people re- 
gard them as their most precious thing, as tlieir 
possible saviours, and therefore treat them with 
care and love. The horse, in order to furnish his 
maximum of utility, should be a friend to his rider, 
and in order that he may be so the rider must 
treat him with the idea of justice. 

What is Obedience. Whence it comes. 
Obedience by persuasion. 

To obey is to agree to do a thing suggested 
I by another, it is to fulfil the will of others, to do 
i what another commands 30U to do. Obedience may 
be the consequence of a physical force which threa- 
tens and compels by fear that it may inflict pu- 
nishment or pain, i. e. by superiority of physical 
(force, or of a moral force or moral influence, of a 
i moral ascendant acquired by one person over ano- 



13 



194 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 

tlier by means of good offices which have produ-" 
ced gratitude and love. I 

Physical force alone, as represented by punish-v 
ment and pliysical coercion, inspires fear and cau- 
ses obedience, but on many occasions only for so* 
long as it lasts, and it always awakens dislike andy 
often even hatred and resistance. The timid do not j 
rebel against physical force, because their feari 
overcomes their anger but the bold and spiritedj 
rebel in consequence of the hatred which the infflic-ij 
ted violence produces. j 

For this reason |>%6'«crt/ force alone is not suf-i 
ficient to obtain obedience and moral force i. e.i 
ascendancy of love is also required to persuade thei 
will to obedience. From the horse obedience must' 
also be obtained by tliis ascendancy of love — be-r 
cause it gives him tranquillity of mind ; — because- 
as his service is required to be })erformed by him in 
a free state, his goodwill is required to perform it; 
— because in order to l)e a willing servant he musti 
be a friend to man, — because being so much stron-i 
gor than wq are it is not expedient to contrast our; 
physical strength with his. 



HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 195 

The obedience which arises from the ascen- 
dancy of love is complementary to the obedience 
which is due to the ascendancy of physical force, 
each being complementary to the other, because 
the obedience due to the sole ascendancy of love 
would likewise not be sufficient alone to restrain 
the horse. In many cases the inclinations and 
temptations to obey liis own impulses, which are 
given him by his instincts, would be the stronger, 
and would overcome this obedience. Therefore it is 
necessary that obedience should be due to an 
ascendancy both of love and fear. In man likewise 
the mere moral ascendant, the mere feeling of duty 
has the power to force some few only to obedience. 
All others obey the moral ascendancy of anyone 
if behind this there is in reserve the material force 
which can physically compel and punish them. 

By the two ascendancies of Jove and fear, we 
give rise in the horse to the moral necessity of 
performing the actions which we tell him to per- 
form. This idea of fche moral necessity of obedience 
gives the feeling of ohedience, i. e. an obedience by 
persuasion. This is the result of the horses seeing 



196 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 

that they are interested in obeying us because thus 
they avoid the evil of punishment and receive 
pleasure. 

In horses the ascendancy of love and fear is 
limited to the person who has known how to inspire 
it, and to those persons who know how to treat 
them in a suitable manner for maintaining it. With 
them, as with children, the moral ascendancy can- 
not be attained or maintained by anyone who does 
not know the way. Obedience and disobedience in ^ 
children depends upon the behaviour of the Master, 
on his knowing or not knowing how to manage 
them. 

Necessity that obedience be by persuasion 
and by habit. 

The horse controls his own movements and in 
order to render us service, should be left free ; he 
cannot do any service when bound and he is ten 
times stronger than we are. Therefore it is neces- 
sary that his obedience should be sure and to be 
sure should be by persuasion, i. e. should be foun- 



ded on the two ascendancies of love and fear. In 

order to render it still more certain, that is, con- 

! stant, it is further necessary that the oliedience by 

j persuasion should be converted into a second nature 

I 

j hy habit, by long continued acts of obedience and 

! by long continued prevention of acts of disobedien- 
ce. An action which is performed by habit is per- 
I formed without being noticed, without knowledge 
j or wish. This is seen from the amount of effort 
' and time required to overcome an acquired habit. 
Obedience hy persuasion, having become a second 

I nature bv hahit has indeed the effect of making 

i 

i the horse no longer think of obeying his own will 

jbut only ours, and we may rely on the linhit of 

'I obedience just as we may rely that on touching a 

a key of a piano the corresponding note will be 

given forth. The greater power of the instinct of 

j self-preservation or of fear or other instincts may 

i! cause obedience to be forgotten for a moment, but 

this will be an exception Avhere obedience by ^>er- 

. suasion has been developed and has become a Jiahit. 



Ids HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 



JBly tvJiat means the horse is taught obedience. 

Man, tlie pTiiicipal feature of wbose cliaracter \ 
is vanity, has given rise to tlie proverb : 8elf Jove ^ 
is the liey to the heart. Tlie horse has no vanity k 
and cannot be overcome by adulation, but he like- ' 
wise obeys the principle that love is inspired by u 
that which is useful and that pleasure is tlie useful J 
thinii* which creates love. Pleasure and utility ])re- » 
dispose him to love and contidence and to the I 
acceptance of obedience. 

His susceptibility to being rendered obedient i 
and our power of giving the feeling of the duty \ 
of obedience to the horse arise from his instinep'i 
(common to all animals) of sceMng that which gi- i 
ves pleasure and fearinf/ and fleeing that which 
gives pain, from his feeling pleasure from good 
treatment and (lispleasure, pain and fear from })u- ' 
nishment. The means which serve to make him ' 
feel pleasure and pain are our various aids and ' 
punishments. ' 



aOW OBEDIENCE IS TAJJGtWt 199 



The ascendancy of love is created over the 
horse by means of some aids, of good associations 
coupled with our person, i. e. good treatment and 
pleasures, and the ascendancy of fear is created 
by giving him by means of other auls and /noii- 
fihments, afisociations of siqyeriority coupled with our 
person, i. e. letting him see that he can be pre- 
vented from following his own impulses, and tliat 
he can be given asfiociatinns of pahi, i. e. jnniis'/i- 
ments if he performs actions which are not denired 
and if he does not ]>ertorm the actions wicli Itc is 
told to d(f in a way proportionate to liis intelli- 
gence. By tills means benevolence and superiority 
are shewn him and his confidence and obedience 
are obtained. After obtaining obedience it is main- 
tained 1)V keeping the horse between carcases on 
the one hand and threats and punishments on the 
otiier if wanted. 

If we desire to acquire influence over a person 
we do not begin by itf-treatinf/ that person, as 
ill—treatment would excite anger, hatred and enmi- 
ty, but we begin by doing kwd ojfiees towards him. 
Thus, in order to obtain obedience from the horse 



200 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAtJGHl* i 

we must begin by giving him associations of plea- 
sure by adopting good treatment towards him, and 
obtain first the ascendancy of love wliich disposes 
him to obedience, and afterwards tlie ascendancy 
of fear which confirms it. 

This is all the more wanted as the horse is in 
the highest degree suscej)tible of fear and knows 
by instinct what a bad animal is the animal cal- 
led man and regards him as his enemy and flees 
him. This belief must be removed by treating him 
well, by shewing him that he receives no harm 
from us, that he should not fear us, but that on 
the contrary he has an advantage from us in being 
well treated. For this reason before acquiring his 
confidence, i. e. his trust in us, we should not give ' 
him x^unishment but always good treatment and 
caresses. If punishments were given him in the ' 
beginning before he knew us the idea would be 
maintained in him that we are his enemies. This 
is less necessary with the domestically reared horse. ' 
With the horse reared at liberty, the acquirement ' 
of confidence requires a long time and may be ' 
lost by a trifle. i 



Sow OBEDIENCE IS 'CAUGHT 201 

Like everything else, obedience is not obtained 
from the horse in a day, but during a shorter or 
longer period of graduated daily instruction which 
may last but a few days with a horse of a good 
nature. In teaching the horse obedience, we begin 
by letting him do many things of liis own will 
gradually preventing some one or another of them 
each day until we come to leave none of them. 

His instruction can begin only after he lias 
been taught obedience. 

Wai/ of teaching Mm confidence. 

The horse is tranquillized and is taught to have 
confidence in and trust ns and is disposed to obe- 
dience towards us, by speaking to him soothingly, 
caressing him, and by good treatments of all kinds, 
and showing him that our person brings him bene- 
fits. Obsequium tigresque domat rahidosque leones 
(by kindness the tiger and the ferocious lion are 
overcome), somebody has said. By good treatments 
the horse is brought to believe that we are friendly 
to him, that he may trust us. 



202 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAtTGHT 

At first the horse who does not know us, and 
probably has been ill—treated before, believes that 
we also will be like the others who ill— treated him. 
Therefore he may seek to escape and to attack us 
by kicking and making reactions. These reactions 
should not be taken into consideration but should 
be tolerated and not puuislied. Seeing that he is 
not punished lie soon quiets down because he un- 
derstands perfectly well that to go quietly causes 
less fatigue, and he ceases to belieye that we ap- 
proach him in order to ill-treat him and acquires 
Irust and conlidence in us. 



Wtn/ of .s'howiuf/ the Itorsc (fur foiperionfi/. 

II 

He is shown our superiority by gradually and i 
little by little preventing him from doing as he 
would wish ; by giving him some punishment if 
]io does not do what we wish him to do, or if he , 
does what we do not wish, but he must always / 
be immediatel}" pacified by caresses so that he 



HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 1^03 

j . . 

I sliould not remain in an inimical mood. Our supe- 
riority over tlie horse is founded : — on his sensiti- 
veness to and fear of punishment ; — on his seeing 

I that he is prevented from doing what he would 

j wish ; — on his excitability to motion at the least 

I instigation and the least punishment. 

j Impunity is an inducement to crime. For this 

I reason it is needful that he should see that on 
disobeying he receives punisliment and it is like- 

' wise needful that the punishment should have the 
effect of giving him pain so that he may be afraid 
of its being inflicted. From this arises tlie idea of 
authority over his mind. If he does not appreciate 
and does not fear punishment, the horse will do 
what he likes because there cannot ])e inflicted 
upon liim the pain wliich Avould induce him to 
obedience in order to avoid it. Without fear of 
punishment there is no possibility of subordination 
and obedience. 

The act of preventing him from obeying his 

! own impulses likewise, although it is not an active 
measure like punishment, largely assists in giving 
him the idea that we are superior in sti'ength to 



204 HO\\r OBEDIENOfi IS TAUGHT 

him. Thus if he is preveuted from going to eat 
the hay he sees close by, although he experiences 
tlie desire to go and eat it, there arises in him 
the idea that our strength which prevents him from 
doing so is superior to liis. It is the same with 
our preventing him from going to the stable, from 
following other horses. 

A good means of showing him our superiority 
is likewise our stimulating by aids, threats and 
punishments, his excitability to motion, and for- 
cing him to put himself in motion in spite of his 
opposed desire not to move. This excitability of 
his is the cliief means of compelling him to ad- 
vance, to perform the actions we desire to put him 
through, and of enabling us to collect him. 



Special means of slwwhuf the horse our superiority 
and how to employ them. 

The instruction with the lounge is the best 
suited to teach obedience. Special means of show- 
ing him our superiority are: — the aids and pu- 



HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 205 

nishments applied when instructing him with the 
lounge ; — the pulls and oppositions of intermittent 
force which we make him feel with the weight 
of our body placed upon the cavesson by means 
of the lounge, in order to make him go through 
the movements we desire, and prevent him either 
making or preparing to make other movements by 
his own impulse ; — the application of cavesson and 
whip punishments which produce pain and fear 
in him and induce him to make the movements 
we desire, and not perform actions of his own 
will for fear of receiving such punishment ; — the 
threats which take the place of the punishment ; — 
the oppositions made by fixed force which we 
make him feel by tethering him to a fixed point 
and by holding him still against his will. 

As already stated, oppositions with the caves- 
son should be of short duration and intermittent, 
because if they were prolonged they would give 
the horse occasion to draw us away and to see 
that he is stronger than we are. 

The fixed power by which he is held back 
should on the contrary not yield, as if he once 



206 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 

succeeds in breaking the rope to which he is tethe- 
red, he always wishes and seeks to break it. If he 
sees that he cannot break it, he acquires the idea ( 
of a greater power, of resignation to it, and no 
longer thinks of breaking it nor attempts it any i 
more, having seen that he could not break it. If 
we tether him to a fixed and unyielding point and 
he desires to go away, and sees that he cannot, 
and if we are near to tranquillize him by a soo- 
thing woice, he associates with us his being unable 
to go away, acquires the idea that he cannot go 
away because we do not wish it, accepts the idea 
of being unable to go away and resigns himself to 
standing still at our mere signal to stop and stand 
still. 

Showing him our superiority by punishments 
should be the matter of a moment only, and after 
his confidence has been acquired so that he should 
not be brought to believe that we are his enemies 
and should not think it therefore necessary to de- 
fend himself from us, believing his life to be in 
danger. When first we are together with him he 
should always be given pleasant associations. If in 



HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 207 

an exceptional case it has been necessary to punish 
him, he must always be pacified shortly afterwards 
by caresses and a soothing voice so that he should 
not remain averse from us and should not conceive 
the idea of hating us. This rule is subject to some 
exception with certain horses whom confidence de- 
prives of respect. 

In order to obtain obedience it is requisite that 
the horse should see that he is conquered and 
overcome by the man who is instructing him on 
foot; and he must not be induced to advance or 
make a movement by other horses which are ad- 
vancing and give him the desire to follow them. 
If the horse advances because other horses are 
doing so and give him the desire to follow them, 
he advances on his own account, by his own will 
and not from obedience to man. The companionship 
and sight of other horses should be made use of 
only to induce the horse to go into water, to pass 
near an object of which he is much afraid, and 
to hear and see the discharge of fire-arms in the 
event of his being exceedingly afraid of them. In 
other cases we ourselves must master the will of 



208 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 



the horse, and the horse must see that it is we 

who are mastering him. I 

r 
I 

Importance of a good cUsj)osition for obedience. 

t 

The first quality to be desired in a horse is a 
good disposition because this brings with it forth- 
with obedience and with obedience he may be 
forthwith controlled. It may be said that the timid 

horse is already obedient and does not need to be I 

made so. But the timid horse is usually very ap- i 

prehensive and this is detrimental to his use. A r 

certain degree of spirit is good in horses because i 

it adapts them to more and better service. Spirit i 

causes them to advance in difficult places and also • 

to pass out of them safely, and it is necessary to \ 

do this sometimes with horses. ! 

Readiness to obedience and readiness to motion 

are the chief things to be desired in the horse. I 

On a horse of a good dispositien and willing to go, i 

we are safe and his instruction is easy. A good i 
rider on a horse of a bad disposition and little 

inclined to go obtains very little and is always i 



HOW OBEDIENCE IS J'AUGHT 209 

in danger. Given a bad will and a bad disposi- 
tion, other good qualities such as agility, strength 
and powers of resistance, are of no value because 
the horse will not place them at our disj)osal. The 
horse with a good nature yields service freely and 
out of hand. In order to get the sly and untrust- 
worthy horse to obey he must always be kept uni- 
ted and this very often cannot be done. 

Obedience is much more necessary in a strong, 

well-fed horse than in a weak and ill-fed one. 

With a weak horse there is still some possibility 

of holding him back by physical strength but 

none with a strong one. The bad-tempered horse 

who attacks is not suited for the purpose of riding 

because he is not afraid of punishment and is 

therefore not susceptible of persuasion to obedience. 

He requires many powerful means of material 

I coercion, and if we succeed in overcoming him by 

them , after having been set free he again attacks 

[ man and is a continual danger to man. In our 

1 countries the entires are rarely reducible to obe- 

dience, and for this reason are not suited for the 

purpose of riding. 

14 



210 now obei)ience is taught 



Varidiis ways of proceeding in teaching obedience, 
according to the various natures of horses. 

In tekchrag obedience attention must be pai!^ 

to the vai-ious natures of horseB, aiitd th'e tea!ching 

innst be soinewhat modified to suit them. After i 

I 
having acquired the confidence of the choleric! 

horse, we should not be ever ready to punish him 

because he "would be angered by it and offeri] 

powerful resistance. The timid horse should not bej 

^u?nished becatise he will be entirely disc6nraged. 

Some punishment inay be given even in the bfen 

ginning to the spirited horse and will do go6d.( 

The timid horse usually has a good disposition,^ 

submits to control, and needs to be constantly 

encouraged, because ipunishment deprives him of 

all spirit and bewilders him. The spirited horsei 

j 
is in lesser or greater degree disinclined to submitj 

to control and resists it with a greater or lesseiij 

cunning and shows more or less rebellion and revolt), 

and some punishment may l)c administered to hiini 

With the obstinate horse which is little inclined tc 



HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 211 

obey and to go, in order that he should conceive 
the idea of obedience, we must show that we are 
n«it afraid of him and inflict punishment on him 
which causes him severe pain and makes him yield. 
As regards the really bad horse it is not worth 
while dealing with him as a good servant cannot 
be made of an enemy who continually seeks to 
betray and attack. 

It is understood as already stated that puni- 
shment should not be given during the ;|krst time 
of instruction when what he does should be more 
or less tolerated so that he should not <think that 
we are ;his enemies and wish to dll-treat him. At 
the beginning all horses, whatever their disposition, 
trequire to be treated well. [Those who have been 
free at pasture are .much more difficult to deal with 
4;han those raised in the stable. More policy is 
•required and they must not be opposed openly 
iilbecause they have a great deal of self-will. The 
fivery sensitive and thorough-bred horses require 
to be treated with greater regard than ordinary 
horses. Their nervous system is much more exci- 
table. Great care should be exercised in applying 



212 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 



I 

aids and punishments to thorough-bred and ner- . 
Tous horses. A punishment may at times give 
rise in them to revolt which would not have oc- 
curred and may be the cause of their not growing 

quiet any more. 

The intelligent and cunning horse studies those 
who are around him and understands whether he 
can do as he pleases. When once he has understood 
his superiority it is difficult to rid him of that idea. 
Care must be taken not to let him understand it. 
Horses who have been ill-treated believe that' 
everyone desires to iU-treat them. In going near 
them it is necessary to proceed with caution so 
as not to be hurt as they take the offensive, bul 
they must not be punished for a certain time iv 
order to show them that we are not enemies. Thej 
have a greater need of being well-treated and foi 
a longer time than the others who were not ill- 
treated, so that they may regain confidence, forge 
and change the bad opinion which the bad treal 
ment received gave them of man. 

Just as among men so among horses there ar 
strange and capricious minds which will not d 



I 



HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 213 

rightly. If such horses are met with it is best to 
get rid of them at once. There are some which are 
subject to feeling excess of physical spirits. These 
must be given good exercise with the lounge until 
it has past and given their lesson afterwards. This 
likewise contributes to diminishing the very exces- 
sive sensitiveness they possess during this onset 
of animal spirits. 



How to deal with the opjiositions and reactions 

made hy the horse when being 

taut/ht couiidence, obedience and our snperiority. 

Hoiv they can he overcome. 

It is natural and in accordance with his ins- 
tinct that the ncAv horse who is unaccustomed to 
obey, should seek to resist everything which avouUI 
fetter his liberty, and that he should object to 
be compelled to assume positions inconvenient to 
him, and to go in a different way from what he 
does when he is at liberty, causing liim more 
fatigue, whilst moving in his own way, low on the 



214 HOW OBEDIENCE IS ITAUGHT 

forehand, is mueli iHore convenient to him. It is 
our duty tf> give Mni instruction bv such gradation 
that this inconvenienee be reduced to the minimtiBa 
and he should t)e recompensed by caresses and good 
treatment. Thus he is given the least possible occa 
sion for oppositions and reactions. 

It is natural that he should resist and that he 
should react in order to try to avoid being forced i 
and comjielled to perform the actions we desire. 
It lies with us to avoid his reactions by approaching i 
him and standing at his side near the shoulder 
maintaining this position in all the movements' he ' 
makes, and giving him instruction under the gui- ' 
dance of two or three lounges. In the beginning 
we are very likely to have oppositions and reac- 
tions from the new horse because he has been pro- 
bably ill-treated or treated in an unreasonable way, 
and he has learnt to oppose and react. He will 
soon cease oifering oppositions and reactions if 
well-treated and not punished, because he will see 
that there is no motive for making reactions when 
he is treated well and will acquire trust and confi- 
dence in us. 



:pow oBEDi^NgE m taught 215 

Erom this moment oixwards there will; be no 
more ojxppsitions an,d reacti^jas i,f we p^-oceed with 
the necessary gra^^tion, and in a ma^nn^- suited 
to the indiyidu^l mental and physical nature of the 
horse b,e\ng instructed. In t^e l^eginnii^g his oppo- 
sitions ai^^ reactions sho,nl(l he tolerated, >Ye moying 
around hi^i in . such a way as to avoid heii\g atta- 
cked, an^l treating him passiyely by prev^jitiflg 
only what we can, and neyev punishing him wit^ 
the whip in o^'^er not to exc^t^ his ang^r as pu- 
nishment witl^ i]\G whip wq\x^^ make hi^n thin^ 
that we are his enemies and he could not acquire 
trust and confidence in us. 

Kare and moderate cavesson aids alone must 
be used as they have an irnposing effect without 
irritating or exciting anger and therefore reactions 
fis do the whip punishments. If tlip i^vsi ijiove- 
m^J\t ttf ^'esistancp and every othpv act of revolt is 
punist^efl \7ith t]\p wh|p l^e Cjuly ^-e volts the iporp, 
whilst if tl^ey ayp ;iot puui^he^ b^t are takpn ^p 
notice of, he i^ mpst cases ^t>q,ndoi^s them. 

Most c^-sp^ of opposition and ^^e^-ctjoi^s i^v^ oypr- 
couie by patipnce, by not t^^king i^py potjce fif 



216 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 

them, as by not doing anything we do not excite I 
in him dislike and anger. He should be chiefly 
made to see that his reactions do not hnrt ns « 
and do not matter to us. If he sees that he hurts 
us by them, or if he breaks the cavesson or j 
lounges, he will be excited and take pleasure in t 
the action. In order to avoid his attacking us when 
instructing him on foot with the cavesson and 1 
lounges, it is requisite we should know how to 
approach him, how to move around him, so as « 
not to oifer the possibility of attack. 

Caiises of opposition fi and reactions while 

he is heing tuught confidence 
and ohedience. How they may be avoided. 

The causes of oppositions and reactions shoAvn:i 
by the horse are: — the want of gradation in 
showing him our superiority, in preventing thei 
actions which are not desired whilst giving instruc-i 
tion ; — requiring from him those actions to whichd 
his body has not been gradually prepared — ex- 
cessive spirits, — fear, — and his instincts ; — 3 



HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHf 217 

inflicting on him many punishments which make 
him think we are his enemies, and make him feel 
the necessity of defending himself. 

We must avoid any lack of the necessary gra- 
dation and not give him lessons when he is in 
excessive spirits and in places where he may be 
afraid or when he is dominated by his instincts, 
and must not excite him to anger by inflicting 
punishments. When in a state of excessive spirits 
or under the domination of his instincts nothing 
should be taught him or required from him, but 
he should be given exercise to make it pass otf 
and distract him or if it is the exercise which 
excites him, his attention sliould be drawn off in 
some other way. By failing t(> do this we should 
have oppositions and reactions, and he afterwards 
retaining the memory of having performed them 
would desire to do them again. Removing every 
motive of discontent and of enmity in the horse by 
every kind of good treatment, by making him see 
that it is not desired to ill-treat him, and he is 
not ill-treated, is the method of avoiding as far 
as possible oppositions and reactions. 



218 HOT\r OBEPIENCE IS TAUGHT 



He shouM not he given any occasion 
to lose obedience. 



I 



We ourselves are guilt}^ of teaching the horsje 
the greater p^^rt of oppositions and reactions as, 
by our illogical method of treating him, and by ; 
placing and allowing him to be under civcumstan- < 
ces which produce in his mind associations in con- 
flict with the idea of obedience, we give him Qcca,- 
sion to see that he is strongev th^n we are, th^t he , 
c(^n do, as he will, and that we caunat prevesftt it 
In order to preserve in the horse the idea of oi^rli 
superiority and of obedience when it ha^s been 
taught him, there is required op (uir part suitable 
treatment Avhic]i consists in avoiding giving him the ijii 
opportunity, and placing him or allowing him to 
be under circumstances which adi^it of his doing (|{j 
us he likes and du not allow us to prevent him. , 

In order to avoid these oppportunities Ave must, 
avoid doing niany things. Jle must never bp given, 
occasion to struggle with us so th^t iie should' 
not see that our sti'engt]i is slight and apparent^ "F 



t 



HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAU&HT 219 

only, that he is the stronger and can oppose and 
overcome ns. He should never be opposed, and it 
should never be sought to prevent him performing 
an action he desires if we are not favourably placed 
and do not possess means and strength sufficient 
for success. Our requiring from the horse that he 
should not perform an action and the horse succeed- 
ing in perfonning it teaches him that lie can 
obey his impulse against our will, it makes him 
understand his own strength, it teaches him to 
have no respect for us, not to CvSteem us, and to 
disobe}^ us. It should not be required that he should 
perform actions which from want of preparation 
of his body he cannot perform without experiencing 
pain. Nothing should be required which we have 
not the power to compel him to do. His anger should 
not be excited by our losing patience and inflicting 
ill-timed punishments. He should not be allowed 
to acquire the habit of doing things which are 
not good for us or which are not desired. He should 
not be required to do what is against his nature 
as for instance to stand still when at liberty in 
the open. 



220 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 

Things should not be allowed to happen which 
would give him occasion to see his strength and 
his being able to do as he wishes. The use of weak 
cords which break gives him the idea that he can 
break them and he always seeks to do so. His 
passing near the stable before he is brought to 
obedience may give him the temptation of going 
there. If he cannot be prevented he immediately 
learns that he is the stronger, that he can go to 
the stable and act as he desires against our will.^ 

At the beginning many things should be tole- 
rated and allowed to pass when requiring from him 
that to which he is not accustomed, and all that 
we do for the purpose of preventing him should be 
done passively, and by yielding elastically and 
intermittently with the weight of our body placed 
upon the cavesson through the lounges. He should 
not be given provocation by severe punishmeni 
with the whip, but shouhl be punished only witli 
the cavesson and moderately and solely when ne 
cessary. 

We should not prohibit an action and ther| 
allow him to execute it. We must proceed withou 



HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 221 

prohibiting many things, but if we do prohibit 
them, it must be maintained at all costs and in 
any way. When we enter into a struggle with him 
we must conquer and must not lose; and if by 
chance we lose on a certain occasion, in a certain 
place und under certain circumstances, we must 
lead the horse back to the same place under the 
same circumstances and give him the same occa- 
sion to act and hold prepared what is necessary for 
overcoming him. In order to do this the necessary 
men must be at hand and they must be capable 
and know what to do. 

Time required for teaching the horse obedience. 

In teaching him this, 

his mechanism must not be spoilt. 

Obedience must be taught gradually and must 
be rendered a matter of habit. For this a certain 
period of time is required. This time however is 
not only employed in teaching obedience but also 
while teaching him obedience by exercising him 
Avith the lounge his action is developed and made 



222 HOW OBEDIENCE IS TAUGHT 

more regular, he is taugM to put himself and go * 

in a good position, and in those positions whicii ) 

are necessaiy to us in order to have the mastery of 

I 
him and dominate him when we shall ride him. 

Thus whilst his mind is instructed his body is 
also trained, and owing to the mutual influence 
of the one on the other, by means of his mind 
his body is trained, and by means of his body hi« 
mind is insti-ucted. 

(ifradation is necessary in instruction in order 
"to avoid oppositions and reactions and also for the 
purpose of maintaining the strength of the back- 
bone and legs of the horse. The muscles and in 
particular the tendons require great gradation in i 
order to adapt themselves to the positions in which 
we need to place the horse without suffering from 
them. Instruction should be given in such a way 
as to make him gain strength, vigour and elasticity, 
>and not to diminish these or hurt the horse. 



mTrmrrrrrnTrrriTtTTTiTriTrrTTTTTTnnTT 



FEAB. 

THE B^ATUEE OF PEAR IN THE HORSE 

AIITD HOW IT MUST BE DEALT WITH. 

HOW HE CAN BE TAUGT NOT TO BE AFRAID 



What «> fear. 

Wear is a sudden involuntaiy nervous cotnmo- 
tidn i^rodiiced 'l]fy the conception of an idea of being 
in dlsLnger, or believing dneself in danger. In the 
'hm*se it is occasioned — by objects w^hich he sees, 
— by noises he hears — by punishments, — by 
real evils, — by feeling himself touched by objects 
by which he is not accustomed to be touched, the 
mdre go ff unexpectedly, — by animals that 'threa- 
'ten him, — or objects coming against him. — It 
is due to the instinct of self-preservation com- 
'inon to all animals, 



224 FEAR 

Being in danger or not does not make any ' 
difference in the fear. Fear is inspired by being in 
danger as in the absence of danger, if there is a ' 
belief of being in danger. Fear arises from belief \ 
of danger, and remains fear even if there is no \ 
danger. Fear differs in degree in horses according 
to their individual nature, and at times is capri- 
cious. They occasionally are afraid of little things ' 
of which they should not be afraid, and have no 
fear of big things which one Avould think would 
inspire them with it. It must depend on the man- \ 
ner and degree of impression produced on them 
by the objects, and on the state of their mind at ^ 
the moment of their receiving the impression. Fear 
is contagious. Where there are many horses if one 
is afraid and turns back the others imitate him. <! 

How fear arises in the horse. 

The idea and feeling of fear arise from expe- 
riencing a sensation which calls forth the idea of' 
danger. In the horse the idea of fear is very easily 
aroused, because his nature intended for runningy ^ 



FEAR 225 

has made him peculiarly excitable aud he has an 
imagination which magnifies everything, and has 
become proverbial. It may be said that fear does 
not arise, but is innate in the horse. To call it 
forth the motion of a leaf in the wind is sufiicient. 

/Signs of fear. 

Fear is r^irely so powerful and sudden in its 
onset as not to allow of being perceived first. Even 
in cases of sudden fear there is a moment of fore- 
warning which is very brief, but which may be per- 
ceived by the practical and attentive eye, which 

all those who handle horses should have. Usually 
1 
' the horse gives forewarning of fear by signs of 

I gradually increasing intensity if it is not excep- 

j tionally and peculiarly sudden. The signs of fear 

i are shown by the horse in a gradually increasing 

degree, and in the direction of the object of fear. 

These signs are: — assuming an attitude of 

I attention by looking and listening, — pricking up 

[the ears restlessly forward and backward, and in 

(the direction in which he thinks he has heard a 



15 



226 FEAR 

noise or seen an object which has alarmed him; 

bending the head and neck on one side in the 

direction of the object of which he is afraid, — 
swerving towards the opposite side, wliilst looking > 
at the object of fear; — holding back or slacken- 
ing the pace, — making movements of snrprise" 
— attempts to stop, — or raising high the head 
and neck, — and also rearing. This last means^ 
that the object of fear is advancing towards him 
or the horse towards it. If^he rears he tnrnsJ 
back by swinging ronnd on the cronp whilst rear- 
ing, which means that he was nnable to turn^ 
back in a low and therefore to him more conve-^ 
nient position. Looking backward, throwing th-e' 
ears back to listen behind, kicking and running 
away mean that the object of fear is behind' 
him. Pressing in the tail, raising it high, snor^ 
ting, turbidity in the eyes, and the voiding o1 
excrement are signs of great fear. Whilst riding 
besides seeing the fear by the signs, it may 1)^ 
felt by the rider who can feel the Jieart l>eatinf' 
quickly under his seat and the aitempts made U 
slacken the pace by the spine. 



FEAR 227 



Effects or reactions caused by fear. 

The greater part of the acts of disobedience, 
oppositions and reactions in the horse, and the 
accidents which happen to him are the effect of 
fear. The instinct of fear makes the horse feel the 
necessity of getting away from the object which 
gives him fear, and he does so by swerving on one 
side, turning back, and fleeing in the opposite direc- 
tion. He prepares himself for swerving by bending 
the head and neck towards the object which excites 
his fear, looking at it, and thus prepares the cen- 
tre of gravity of his body on the side opposite to 
the object and executes the action of s^verving b} 
making a lateral movement with the hind legs. 
If he is unable to flee, fear may excite him to react 
against man, animals, and other objects. He kicks 
against objects which touch him and produce fear 
until he removes them or hurts himself, and can- 
not kick any longer. These actions caused by fear 
may be called reactions of fear. 



228 FEAR 

Eear renders the horse dangerous. Great fear ' 
bewilders his mind, and dominates it, so as to pre- 
vent him from feeling aids and punishments. He 
does not see nor look at anything but the object 
of fear from which he flees, and very often in or- 
der to avoid an imaginary danger created by fear,, 
he A\ill dash over a precipice. He will go over„ 
a precipice backwards from fear of an object ad-| 
vancing towards him, or also for fear of punish- 
ments inflicted on him in front. When frightened) 
by a noise he does not know where he is going,, 
but he runs. There are horses which from fear o^ 
things thrown and animals which they see moving; 
and running suddenly give way in the forelegs ho^ 
as to almost fall. Many when they have fallen, 
become so discouraged that they do not get up voj 
luntarily, and must be excited to get up. 

Pear makes them go through extraordinary 
motions, and .jump over unusual obstacles, thuj 
making many horses appear more willing to go anc 
of a better breed than they are. Dealers frightei 
their horses in order to give them a fine and wil 
ling appearance in their gaits. 



FEAR 229 



In ivhicJi horses fear is most dcmgerous. 

In those with excessive timidity and nervous- 
ness. These are extremely dangerous, because there 
is no means of tranquillising and mastering them. 
With one of these horses the best that can be 
done is to get off and lead him by hand or 
better still never to ride them. The man on foot 
can hold him, and even the horse quiets down 
much better with a man on foot at his side. In 
the light and strong horse the actions of revolt 
due to fear are more dangerous, because the hor- 
se being agile needs little preparation to make 
them, and they are powerful and almost sudden. 
Ordinary horses if they take fright are less suscep- 
tible of being tranquillised and persuaded, and are 
much ijiore dangerous than thorough bred horses. 

JTear is an evil ivhich has its useful side. 

If the horse were not afraid of the objects and 
dangers, he would not avoid them, and would be 



280 FEAR 

injured by them, and if he were not afraid of pu- 
nishments it would not be possible to get the mas- | 
tery over his will, and reduce him to obedience i: 
and submission. Horses raised at liberty are afraid 
of ditches and holes, and do not fall into them, 
because they have already had experience of them, 
haye already put their feet in them, have already - 
hurt themselyes or fallen, and are on their guard ^ 
against them. This fear is an evil which tends to 
make them avoid greater evils. The horse which 
always goes along the road and becomes accusto- 1 
med to pass over the dark patches formed by pud- 
dles or wet road, and has never met with an acci- 
dent, will, if the coachman guides him to it, go] 
into a hole which to him has the appearance of 
wet ground, and of his own accord will not think 
of avoiding it. In this case his not being afraid 
is no advantage, and it would be better if he were 



Causes of fear. 

The fear of the horse is caused: — by a real) 
evil which has hapi)ened to him in the presence 



FEAR 231 

of an object to which he attributes it; — by a 
threat of harm, of danger from some large object 
which is advancing towards him; — by his sin- 
king into the ground, by his slipping on the ice, 
I and thus becoming afraid even to move. It may 
j be and is often caused by a small harmless object 
such as a leaf or weed bending in the wind. All 
the objects which he has never seen may call forth 
in him the idea of fear. 

Defective eyesight is very often- the cause of 
the fear of objects. It seems tliat horses having 
a perfectly good sight are fe^\^ 1 remember a hor- 
se which if any object ^vhatever were placed on 
the ground, and lie were led along close to it, 
was always afraid of it the first time, but not the 
second. On clianging the ])iace of the same object, 
and putting it twenty yards further away, tlie first 
time he passed it he was always afraid of it again. 
This means that his eye was unable to recognise 
the same object, and that on tlie second time of 
his seeing it in the new place where it had been 
put, he was not afraid of it ])ecause he had seen 
it once before and remembered having seen it there. 



232 FEAR 

Often fright is produced by excessive nervousness 
which makes him afraid of every thing and espe- 
cially of moving things. Excessive nervousness 
may originate in defective eyesight and one may 
be mistaken for the other. His being kept still by 
actual force near an object whicli inspires him 
with fear much increases the fear he experiences 
of it. 

Peculiarly great fear of an object is usually a 
sign that he was ill-treated when afraid of the 
object, and was left in a state of fear and revolt, i 
a thing wliicli should never be done. He may take 
fright at any object of which he was not afraid 
if it was associated with the act of striking him 
with the object itself, or in the presence of the« 
object. He fears the whip because v>^ith it he lias 
been threatened or beaten. He fears the man who 
has beaten him because he remembers having been 
beaten by him. For tliis reason he may be tauglit f 
to be afraid of any desired object by merely stri- 
king him in the presence of that object. 5 



FEAR 233 



Circumstances which diminish the horse's fear. 

In the coinx)any of a man in whom he has 
confidence, and to whom he is obedient, he is 
much less liable to experience fear, and is more 
easily tranquillised, because he believes that in 
his company no harm will CAcr happen to him, 
having already experienced during some time that 
in his company no harm was done to him or has 
happened to him. 

The various circumstances and ways in wliicli 
objects are presented cause a lesser or greater de- 
gree of fear. He is less afraid of a motionless 
object than of one in motion, — less afraid when 
standing still than when in motion, — in a place 
familiar to him than in a place where lie has ne- 
ver been, — when he is tired than when he is 
rested or when he is in excessive spirits, — of a 
faint distant noise than of a powerful noise near 
at hand, — after he has been guided round and 
about a great deal, and has seen many and various 
objects than when he has seen few only. Usually 



234 FEAR 

tlie luales have less fear than the females. Some 
are less afraid with blinkers, others withont. 

Circumstanees which increase his fear. 

When he is well-fed and rested he is more 
liable to fear becanse he is then more excitable; 
— when he is not accustomed to seeing objects 
and tliey are new to him, — and when he is ill- 
treated in the presence of them. When he is ill- 
treated by man he is always in a state of alarm 
and suspicion of eyerything, and is afraid of ere- 
rything. If a punishment was associated with the 
object which caused him fear, the fear greatly in- 
creases and the horse grows more and more appre- 
hensive, and after the punishment has been repea^ 
ted several times because he was afraid of tliat 
o])ject, lie will no longer pass any other object of 
which he is afraid. Punishment increases fear be- 
cause in itself it inspires dislike and fear. The 
horse who has been punished because he was afraid 
of an object is so much the more atraid wlien he 
sees it again, and regards it as the cause of the 



FEAR 235 

punishment suffered. He will be more ready to turn 
back and will forestall the rider next time he sees 
the object of fear. 

He has greater fear of an object that moves, 
— which is moved by the wind, — of an animal 
running, — on hearing noise and not seeing the 
cause of it, — of an approaching and increasing 
noise, — in the place where he has never been 
and which he does not know, — when he is in a 
dark stable and in an isolated place and is not 
accustomed to seeing many things. The object 
which causes him fear if coming to meet him ma- 
kes him more afraid than if he sees it sideways. 
¥oY this reason it is best to bend his head sideways 
and make liim see the object of fear from one 
side, because on seeing it sideways he swerves and 
turns aside, whilst on seeing that it is coming to- 
vrards him he turns back and this is worse. 

Whilst he is in motion he is more afraid and 
grows more excited than whilst he is standing still. 
At the trot he is more afraid than at a walk, and 
at the gallop more than at the trot. For this reason 
when he is afraid and is excited by it to run, he 



236 FEAR 

should not be allowed to run because he would 
grow still more afraid and would acquire the bad 
habit of starting off running at every noise or 
object which inspires him with fear. 

He is more afraid alone than in company. If 
when afraid he is alone and does not hear the 
voice of the man to which he is accustomed, he 
becomes still more terrified and takes still more 
headlong flight. A near object causes much more 
fear than a distant one. Therefore to accustom him 
not to be afraid of an object we should first make 
liim pass it at a distance and then by degrees 
make him pass closer. A loud noise causes much 
more fear than a slight noise. Therefore we should 
make him hear it at first at a distance and then 
nearer by degrees. 

Tear always becomes greater on the recurrence 
of the occasion, on its being caused by the same 
object. The more often he has occasion to be 
afraid, the more the susceptibility of the horse 
increases to take fright at every other object and 
imagine fresh fears. The more the being afraid is 
repeated, the stronger the fear becomes and the 



FEAE 237 

more difficult it is to persuade the horse not to 
be afraid. If on meeting an object which causes 
him fear he was able to turn back, it becomes 
more difficult to prevent him doing so another 
time, because with his being able to turn back 
from fear of the object, the horse has associated 
the idea of having been able to turn back and of 
desiring to do so, and if it is allowed to be re- 
peated, he acquires the habit of doing so. Care 
must therefore be taken that he should not be able 
to turn back whilst he is afraid. He should not be 
allowed to remain afraid for anv time, but we 
must try to remove his fear immediately as it is 
easier to remove it at once. After some time is past 
the fear has taken root in his memory. 

Various kinds and degrees of fear. 

Although the feeling of fear is always the same, 
it may be said that there are different kinds 
of fear according to the peculiar nature of the 
objects which produce fear and their liability to 
produce a lesser or greater impression on the ima- 



238 FEAR 

gination of the horse. The degree of intensity of 
the impression depends on the greater or lesser 
susceptibility of his mental nature. In general his 
excitability, his all magnifying imagination and 
his timidity which makes him nervous at every- 
thing, inspire him with fear of all objects whatso- 
ever. He is afraid of every object new to him 
which he has never seen, of the places where he 
has never been, of stones on the ground, white, 
black or red, of water puddles, sheets or coverlets 
stretched on ropes in the air or on the ground, of 
sacks, of leaves falling from the trees, of paper 
rolled by the wind, of reeds or shrubs bent and 
swayed by the wind, of smoke, of fire, of light- 
ning, of falling water &c., &c. He is afraid of 
objects that he sees suddenly whether they really 
appear abruptly, or whether he sees them suddenly 
on turning his head to one side. 

He is afraid if we run up to him, if we stretch 
our arm quickly, instead of going up to him slowly 
and raising the arm gradually ; if he sees anyone 
run or throw objects; if he sees a cask or barrel 
rolling; if he hears the noise of firing, thunder 



FEAR 239 

&c. ; if he sees lightning or fire. He is afraid of 
bad odours, of discharged powder, of decomposed 
bodies, of the skins of wild beasts, of bituminous 
substances, of being touched suddenly, and of the 
dogs and other animals that run near him and 
between his legs. 

Feeling himself drawn by force towards an 
object of fear before he has been persuaded to ap- 
proach it little by little, makes him extremely 
frightened and he draws back. Eeeling himself 
compelled by physical force to stand by the object 
of fear, inspires him with peculiar terror and he 
revolts and seeks to free himself until he has either 
succeeded or has done himself such harm as to be 
unable to resist further. Usually harnessed horses 
on falling and remaining entangled in the harness 
or with the carriage, either become violent and 
break everything or lose all spirit and let them- 
selves lie as though dead. 

In the stable the horse should be tethered in 
such a way that he should not be able to get 
entangled with tlie rope of the halter if it is atta- 
ched to a fixed hook so that he may not be seized 



240 FEAR 

with fear and hurt liimself in the attempt to get 
free. If a horse harnessed to a cart in driving 
away the flies happens to get his bridle entangled 
in a hook on the shafts, he has a bad fall and 
becomes extremely afraid. Euuuing into ditches, 
breaking the shafts of the vehicle to which he was 
harnessed and being left alone by man, leave a 
powerful impression, and with some it is difficult 
to cause them to forget it. Being accustomed to 
feel the man always with him, his being alone 
and abandoned and unable to hear the voice of 
the man any longer gives him great fear. 

We must seek to dispel his fear. 

The horse is by nature suspicious and appre 
hensive and it is natural for him to be afraid. It 
is our fluty to seek to overcome this. It is the [ 
chief j)art of his instruction to teach him so far 
as possible not to be afraid or to be afraid as little i 
as possible and to remove the fear of objects of i 
which he has become afraid. 



FEAR 241 



How fear may he removed. 

It is the idea of many that fear should be pu- 
nished. By so doing the fear is increased instead 
of being overcome and the horse becomes ever 
more afraid. His fear cannot be removed by injflic- 
ting punishment because the punishment inflicted 
in presence of the object which has given rise in 
him to the feeling of fear, owing to his mode of 
judgment as stated in the chapter « How the horse 
learns » , is an association of pain coupled with 
the object of fear and he believes it to be caused 
by this object of fear. Therefore when he again 
views this object he expects that he will be pu- 
nished. ancAV. Thus by inflicting punishments on 
him his fear has been increased and he has been 
given a second fear, that of punishments because 
punishments in themselves inspire fear and dislike. 

The fear may be removed only by persuading 
him that the object of which he is afraid does 
not do him any harm. This persuasion can only 
come to the horse from seeing that whilst he has 



16 



243 FEAK 

any fear of an object, no punishment is given liim 
and no harm happens to liim, but on the contrary 
he receives caresses and good treatment. The re- 
medy for fear therefore, in addition to not puni- 
shing him, is every kind of good treatment, of 
pleasing things, and of those things which aroi 
calcnlated to re-assnre the mind and to inspire ^ 
courage, and to make him think that he is not in| 
danger. This good treatment and these things sui- 
ted to re-assure the mind, may be called for con-| 
venience means of persuasion. 

Means of persuasio7i. 

The following serve for persuading the horse ^ 
not to be afraid, being means of re-assuring the,i 
mind, or means of persuasion : — not giving himt 
threats or punishments; — the presence or com- 
panionship of the man who has acquired his coli- 
iidence and who has inspired him with the habit t^ 
of obedience; — the act of speaking to him] 
soothingly, — caressing him, — treating him well 
— leaving him quiet, — not exciting him in any 



FEAR 243 

wa\% — goinc; near liiin ^ilovil}' and patiently; — 
not making rapid and sudden movements (an arm 
raised abruptly is sufficient to alarm him whilst 
he is in a state of fear); — the fact of the man 
who has his coniidence placing himself between 
him and the object of fear, or this man walking 
in front of the horse; — the placing of another 
horse between the horse which is afraid and the 
object of fear, or making the other horse walk in 
front. 

Einding himself always caressed and seeing 
that no harm comes to him on seeing the objects 
which arouse fear in him, after a time his fear 
diminishes greatly, and even if the idea of fear 
arises in him, he allows himself to be re-assured 
by the means of persuasion. Blinkers are not means 
of removing fear. They prevent his being afraid 
of those things of which they obstruct the view, 
and are not suited to remove fear. Very often his 
being unable to see increases his fear, but mostly 
it prevents him from being afraid. 



244 FEAR 



On ichat conditions fear may he removed 
hy the means of persuasion. 

The application of tlie principles here exposed 
requires a previous study of instructing the horse 
with the lounges. Fear may be removed by the 
means of persuasion on the following conditions:' 

1. That during the time that the horse is under 
the impression of fear, he shall receive no punish-' 
ment and shall suffer no harm or real injury in, 
any other wa}. — It is not possible nor right tc 
require that he should not be afraid of the thin^ 
which does him real harm if he feels it. (He maj 
be hit by the harness, and, being excited, not fee] 
it). Real harm may be caused him by some objecl 
falling on him, or the same object or animal run 
ning against him, striking him or throwing hiiij 
down; it may occur from the subsidence of th( 
ground, from falling in a ditch, from the carriage 
to which he was harnessed breaking down, or be 
cause the tracings break, &c. Kot only must n(, 
punishment be given whilst he is under the im 



PEAR 245 

pression of fear nor any association of real harm, 
but not even sensations of unpleasant things must 
j be caused and it must not be desired to keep him 
absolutely still by physical force as this alone gives 
him great fear. 

I 2. That the man who undertakes to persuade 
I him not to be afraid should have acquired his 
I confidence and be trusted by him owing to pre- 
vious good treatment. — The horse must have 
acquired the belief that in the company of this 
man no harm will happen to him. A man strange 
to the liorse and whom he does not know will 
I not be able to persuade him not to be afraid, 
jmuch less the man who has ill-treated him, as he 
himself is an object of fear to the horse and ma- 
kes him afraid by his mere presence. 

3. That the man should have taught him to 
'jobey. Obedience produces respect and respect gives 
f influence to persuasion. 

4 That the man should be on foot and should 
.hold the liorse with cavesson and lounge, and 
I should be accompanied by two men holding side 
'lounges attached to the cavesson because the horse 



246 FEAR 

allows himself to be re-assured mncli more readily ) 
by men on foot next him than bv the rider on f 
his back. The cavesson produces a powerful im- 
pression without exciting fear or resistance, and 
on foot it is possible to produce this impression, ,( 
to hold him and to prevent him bolting, which 
things would not be possible on horseback. , 

5. That the man should be capable and should 
show patience and indulgence. 

Without these conditions little can be done to 
persuade the liorse not to be afraid even by an 
able man. As it is requisite to give the horse con- 
fidence and make him obedient before undertaking 
to teach him not to be afraid, and these two 
things cannot be obtained in a day, time is requi- 
red to persuade him not to be afraid. This time 
will be longer or shorter in accordance with tlie ; 
nature of the horse and the ability of the man. 

Mode of teacJdnff the liorsc not to he afraid 
of a given object. 

Before undertaking to teach the horse not to j 
be afraid of the objects of which he may be afraid, ■. 



I 



PEAR 247 

we must place ourselves and tlie horse under the 
above stated conditions, and chiefly must have 
obtained his confidence and inspired him with the 
feeling of obedience. The means of j)ersuasion must 
be used with discernment and patience in a closed 
place where no accidental harm may befall him 
and where he is not liable to have distractions. 
In this place he must be tauglit not to be afraid 
of the greatest possible number of objects, one by 
one, because this serves to diminish his suscepti- 
bility to fear. Tt is requisite to proceed gradually 
and begin with objects which can inspire little 
fear, passing on to others of which he will be more 
afraid. 

The way of doing is to lead him on foot h(d- 
ding him by the lounge and cavesson, and with 
two men holding two side lounges buckled to tlie 
two side-rings of tlie cavesson. Thus he must be 
led to see and pass near the object of which he 
is afraid placed on the ground or suspended in the 
air, always talking to him soothingly aud caressing 
him, and never inflicting punishment in order to 
show him that the object which inspii*es hini with 



248 PEAR 

fear does him no harm. He should never be com- 
pelled to approach the object by physical force, 
but should be induced to approach it gradually 
following us and by persuasion. 

The most suitable place for doing this in the 
beginning is the riding school, because as he re- 
ceives lessons there every day it is familiar to him, 
he knows it well, and it is like his house, and in 
it he will be much less afraid than in another 
place. 

The most suitable time is immediately after 
his lesson, because then he is quieter, and also 
because directly after leaving the stable the eye 
is more susceptible to fear because the stable is 
usually not brightly lit. This may afterwards ]>e 
carried out in an enclosure or in a field, where 
however there must be no disturbance, and finally 
he must be led about the streets. 

In leading the horse around in order to let him 
see the object which it is desired to accustom him 
not to be afraid of, he must be conducted at a 
slow pace, because a rapid pace excites him; at 
the same time he must be spoken to conciliating- 



FEAR 249 

ly and caressed, and a direction taken so as to 
pass on one side of the object and not to go straight 
towards the object of fear, which would make 
him think that we wish to make him pass over 
it and w^ould arouse extreme fear in him. We 
must also stand between him and the object of fear 
in order to give him the idea of defending and 
protecting him. Quietness in walking is necessary 
and has influence in tranquillising the mind. 

When the horse walks quickly or runs he is 
more liable to excitement and to acquire greater 
fear. He must be habituated to pass at the trot 
close by the object of fear only after he has be- 
come indifferent to passing close by it at a walk, 
and if by chance he should give signs of excite- 
ment he must once more be made to pass it at a 
walk, but this should not liappen, and means that 
the gradation used was not sufficient. 

If before approaching the object he gives a 
sign of fear and desires to stop he should be al- 
lowed to stop, and caressed, and should be allowed 
to stand still for some time and look at the object 
so that his impression of fear may pass away. 



250 FEAR 

After some time we may make as if advancing in 
front of him in order to see whether lie will approach 
the object. If he will not approach it, it should 
not be attempted to compel him to go forward by 
physical force because this in itself gives him 
great fear and increases his fear of the object. On 
the contrar}^ a detour should be made and he 
should be conducted far from the object, we walk- 
ing in front and on his side towards the object. 

If he desires to draw back and run away the i 
two men who hold him with the side lounges must ; 
oppose intermittent resistance putting the weight • 
of their body on the lounges so as not to allow \ 
him to draw back much. Were they to oppose t 
with continual resistance they w(nild be dragged : 
away as the horse has strength and men have 
little. Each day on our repeating the process of 
guiding him to the object of fear he will approach 
nearer to it, will pass it more closely and will end 
probably by not being afraid of it. 

Just as all the things which it is desired to r 
bring the horse to perform must be done little by i 
little with the most careful gradation, so it is with 1 



FEAR 251 

this matter of getting him to pass near an object 
of fear, wliich is a greater requirement than the 
others. 

Wliether we rid him of fear will depend upon 
our adopting a right Avay of procedure, but largely 
also upon our properly graduated steps. If his fear 
of the object is great it is necessary to begin to 
pass it and let him see it from a great distance 
and approach it by such gradual steps as to avoid 
arousing fear in him. If it is desired to proceed 
more rapidly and less gradual steps are employed 
tlian his susceptibilit}^ to fear requires, his fear 
being thus aroused, we shall have lost instead of 
gaining, and it will be necessary to return to stan- 
ding and passing at a greater distance from the 
object in order to approach it again little by little 

During a certain time it is necessary to walk 
in front of the horse and on the side towards the 
object when passing close to it, but afterwards 
he must be accustomed to go alone, we standing 
at his side at the height of the shoulder, and fi- 
nally the horse being on the side towards the object. 
In order to persuade him to go into the water 



252 FEAE 

the first time it is better to let another horse 
precede him or for us to go ourselves into the wa- 
ter first in front of him. 

The various forms of fear are overcome by our 
passing' again and again, a greater or lesser num- 
ber of times, together with the horse, near the 
object which causes him fear, but without forcing 
him to go close to it, letting him see that he suf- 
fers no harm from it. When showing him the object 
which causes him fear nothing more should be done 
than speak to him soothingly and caress him, let- 
ting him stand at a distance, not forcing him to 
approach. The approach must be effected gradually 
and without forcing him, in proportion as the fear 
diminishes. 

When on the road he encounters an object 
which causes him fear the best mode of persua- 
sion, if the fear be great, is for us to proceed in 
front of him and place our person between the 
object of fear and him, by which he feels himself 
as it were protected, or else to have another horse 
put in front of him and make him follow. Being 
preceded by a man in whom they have confidence 



FEAR 253 

is with many horses a more powerful means of 
persuasion than following another horse. 

To rid him of the fear of passing over white 
and black stones paper must be placed on the 
ground, and we, holding him by the lounge, must 
first pass over it, but not force the horse to do so. 
He will pass over it after having seen us do so 
many times. If it is sought to force him he grows 
afraid, and it is of no use if he passes over it by 
force, on the contrary it leaves him a bad impres- 
sion of violence and fear. The same must be done 
to make him pass near or over pools or other 
conspicuous spots or parts of the ground, and eve- 
rything which may cause him fear. But we should 
keep towards these things and in front of the horse 
and pass over them in front of him and first. 

It is further necessary to accustom him to being 
touched by the whip and other objects in all parts 
of the body and to having the lounge, reins and 
J saddle fall on the ground without taking fright. 
In order to accustom him to the harness and 
trappings he must be made to move at a walk, 
led by the lounges and afterwards by gradual steps 



254 FEAR 

at a trot in a circle until he has become indiffe- 
rent to them. By repetitions and gradation the 
feelings of fear due to his being touched diminish 
and disappear. Teaching him not to be afraid of 
objects and to be touched in all parts of the body 
should be proceeded with after he goes well at 
the lounge. 

Great care must be taken that on the first oc- 
casions of his being afraid of any object no harm 
should happen to liim owing to any cause foreign 
to us. The horse would associate it with the object 
and would be much more afraid of it, and it would 
be much more difficult to remove the fear. He fi 
must not be allowed to go under water the first 
time he is made to go into the water to teach him 
to swim. It will not be possible to persuade hin 
to go into the water a second time. In cases of 
great fear the company of other horses should be 
used as a more effective means of persuasion. 

In past times particular care was taken to teach 
the foal not to be afraid during the year of his 
teaching. In the company of a ridden horse he was '■ 
sent everywhere to see whatever might cause him 



PEAR 255 



fear, and to learn to know all the objects in all 
places where he might have been afraid. At that 
time this was much more necessary because horses 
were reared at liberty and were half wild. Kow 
this is less necessary because their rearing is dome- 
stic, but they still are afraid of almost everything 
and must be taught to know every kind of object 
and accustomed not to be afraid, instead of this 
not being thought of, as is generally done. They 
should be led round the streets so as to get used 
to seeing the various objects after they have been 
taught not to be afraid on foot with the loimges 
and cavesson in a closed place. 

Teaching the horse not to be afraid of an object 
after he has once become afraid. 

, The horse has learnt to be afraid of an object 
j because the object has aroused in him the idea of 
pear, and he was allowed to remain in this appre- 
I'hensive frame of mind instead of its being imme- 
I diately dispelled by the above means of persuasion, 
for still worse, he has learnt to be afraid because 



256 FEAR 

his idea of fear has proved true and been confir- 
med by associating the object with bad treatment 
and punishment. The way of removing fear and , 
the rules for doing so are similar to those for teach- 1 
ing him not to be afraid of a given object. With ^ 
the lounge and cavesson on foot, and with the aid ^i 
of two skilled men with two lateral lounges, the 
teacher, who holds the middle lounge should walk 
in front and lead him to the object of fear putting 
him in the same place and under the same cir- 
cumstances, and there letting him see that he nO|j 
longer receives ill-treatment and punishment, but 
on the other hand is spoken to soothingly and ca- 
ressed, just as was done in teaching him not tol 
have fear of other objects. 

The only difference is that more calmess, more 
patience, more gradual procedure, more time are 
required in order to make him give up the feai 
associated with an object and produced by ba^ 
treatment inflicted on him in the presence of thiS; 
object, because it has taken much deeper root ii 
his mind. If the exact circumstances cannot b(j 
reproduced they should be artificially imitated a. 



FEAB 257 

well as possible. If he has taken fright where 
there were several objects together, we must be 
careful to understand which object it was which 
made him take fright because very often among 
many objects the greatest impression may be made 
on the horse by that which makes the least on us. 

Teaching the horse not to be afraid ivhile ridden. 

It is not possible whilst riding to teach the 
horse not to be afraid of objects, but after having 
taught him not to be afraid with the lounges and 
cavesson on foot, the lessons given on foot must 
be repeated on horseback, because when ridden 
the horse is in a new and different position suited 
to make him subject to fear, namely he has not 
the man at his side to reassure him completely 
and continually. For this reason the first times 
when mounted he is made to pass alongside objects, 
the rider should be accompanied by a man on foot 
in whom the horse has confidence, and this man 
walking alongside should reassure the horse and 
prevent him turning back if necessary. 



17 



258 FEAR 

The rider alone could manage it, holding him 
collected and in hand, but this would not achieve 
the effect and object of making the horse pass it 
himself without the aids of the rider. The real 
object of teaching him not to be afraid is that he 
should not be afraid, not that he should be held s 
by the reins and by the riding aids and physically i 
prevented from swerving or turning back. The ri- 
der will hold him in hand and prevent him swer- 
ving and turning back when alone only in order! 
not to let him acquire the idea that he can per-n 
form these acts of his own choosing. The man oni 
foot in proportion as the horse appears to have less i 
fear should walk at a greater distance from himc 
and cease to accompany him. The rider should! 
give him alone this exercise of riding him to see 
objects which may give rise to fear, at the end oft 
his training, after the horse has been taught to ben 
united and held in hand, in order to be able to? 
prevent him from turning back if necessary, so that 5 
he should not see that he can turn back. 



FEAB 259 

Punishments given to the horse which 
shows fear ivhile ridden. 

No punishment should be given to the horse 
! 
I whilst in a state of fear, in order not to increase 

his fear. When riding we may, by way of excep- 
j tion in special cases, inflict punishment, not because 
j he is afraid, and not to punish his fear (which 
' should not be done because it would only increase 
1 it) but in order to collect the horse and get him 

in hand and keep him in hand, so as to prevent 

him making reactions due to his fear, swerving, or 
I turning back, and thus leading us into danger, and 
' learning an association, detrimental to us, of his 
' having been able to turn back, which would give 
'• him the idea of desiring to do so and of doing so 
I anew on other occasions. Punishments inflicted 
f while he is afraid must usually be severe, because 
i fear overpowers him and prevents him feeling them 

much. 

We must not wait to inflict punishment until 
! the horse has stopped, but it must be given as soon 



260 PEAK 

as he shows the first sign of being afraid of an ' 
object in order to bring him in hand and prevent ^ 
him stopping, because if he is able to stop it will \ 
be very difficiUt to prevent him turning back. To ' 
prevent him from swerving or turning back his 
head and neck should be bent in the opposite di- 
rection to the object of fear because he is thus i 
hindered from shifting in this direction the centre ' 
of gravity of his body and preparing to swerve. 
Bending him towards the side opposed to that of 
the object of fear has also the good effect of ma- 1 
king it seem to the horse that he is removed from 
the object of fear, because he sees it as though its 
were on one side and behind, and is less afraid. I 
If he is allowed to bend his head and neck to-i 
wards the object of fear whilst riding and aids 
and punishments are applied, he thinks it is desi- 1 
red to make him go towards or upon the object 
of fear, and is so much the more afraid. 

It is understood that the whip punishment'^ 
should be inflicted on the side opposed to the object 
of fear and on the flank. Given on the same side' 
as that occupied by the object it would cause 



FfiAii 261 

his fear to increase, and make him swerve still 
more. Punishment on the shoulder is of no use 
when it is sought to induce him to advance. He 
must be punished with the whip on the flank or 
under the belly. 

This can be done with a horse who is afraid 
if he is well trained and if he yields to the aids, 
and it must be done in single cases as a tempo- 
rary remedy for a grave evil (swerving, turning 
back) but it is an evil as it much increases the 
fear, and avails a few times only, because the 
horse will remain greatly in fear of the object, 
and would always seek to swerve or turn back. 

This he will succeed in doing, because he will be 
i 
intent on discovering the object of fear, and will 

see it before the rider, and will have turned round 
i before the rider has seen it or has thought of col- 
li lecting him and getting him in hand. 

The untrained horse cannot be prevented from 
I' swerving aside by bending him in the direction 
\] opposed to the object of fear, as not being accu- 
1 stomed to bend his body he feels pain, is bewil- 
i dered by it and stops. For this horse it is better 



262 PEAR 

to hold him on both reins and give him severe 
punishment in the paunch on the side opposed to j 
the object in order to get him to advance. 

For these reasons, and in order that the fear | 
should not have time to take root in his mind, it 
is necessary immediately or as soon as possible after 
he has experienced fear of an object and has had 
to be punished to prevent him from swerving, to 
lead him on foot with the lounges and cavesson 
to the object, and teach him not to be afraid of i 
it in the manner already stated. 

With a horse which has not been well maste- 
red, and cannot be got in hand, the best thing to 
do is to dismount, walk in front of him, and try^ 
to induce him to to follow; possibly he will not 
advance even in this way, because he is accusto- 
med to have his own way. If punishment were n 
given to this horse in order to get him in hand, i 
it would not be successful, because not being accu- ! 
stomed to it he would grow the more afraid, and 
might be excited to violent reactions. Great abi- 
lity would be required in the rider to surprise the ; 
horse with severe punishment the first moment of i| 



FEAR 263 

his showing fear, but even thus, the risk of arou- 
sing resistance would be great, and the probability 
of being successful small. 

Eor the purpose of pulling him forward, the 
reins being unsuited, the horse in training should 
have beneath the bridle a light cavesson but strong, 
with two metres of black twisted leather cord so 
as not to show too much, and double at the end 
in order to receive the hand. It should be faste- 
ned beneath the throat like the halter used by 
postilions. This cord would be useful when it is 
desired to walk with the horse, and when it is 
necessary to pass a bridge or dangerous pass on 
foot, and the horse should be accustomed to walk 
beside us and behind us, for which reason he should 
never have been punished by us from a position 
in front of him. When walking alongside of him, 
if it is necessary to stimulate him to advance, 
this must be done with the whip in the left hand 
and behind, so that the aid is given him from 
behind. If we walk in front of the horse the pulls 
should be intermittent and gentle, and it should 
not be attempted to draw him by main force, as 






264 PEAK 

this would cause bim great fear and make him ' 
pull backwards instead of coming forward. 

If whilst riding him it has been necessary to 
make him go close to an object of fear, holding 
him collected and in hand by means of punish-, 
ment, immediatel}^ the object is passed he must be 
pacified with conciliating words and caresses in 
order to remove the aversion occasioned by the pu- < 
nishment, and the association of the punishment 
with the object of fear. Afterwards he must be* 
made to pass again and again quietly, riding him 
if he is but slightly afraid, and accompanying him 
on foot and standing between him and the object 
of fear if the fear is great, passing close to the 
object which causes him fear, and speaking to hinii 
continually in a conciliating voice, and caressing 
him until he becomes indifferent to it. 

Many good horses can be managed the first 
time they are afraid even when ridden. This can- 
not be done with those who are very excitable and 
nervous. They would be excited by many repeti- 
tions of going to and fro near the object of fear. 
They should be made to pass it a few times a day^i 
and with some interval, not consecutively. 



PEAlt 265 

If the horse is afraid whilst in hand, he can 
be prevented from swerving or turning back. If 
he is afraid whilst out of hand, but is very sensi- 
tive to the aids for exciting motion by applying 
these aids and holding him he may be brought in 
hand at the moment he is afraid and prevented 
from swerving. If he is very much afraid whilst 
out of hand, and pays little heed to the riding 
punishments, it is no use applying them, as they 
do not suffice to keep him in motion, and may 
excite him to violent reactions. In this case it is 
best to stop him, to caress him, and to talk to him 
soothingly, keeping him standing still, and seeing 
whether his fear subsides, and he can be persua- 
ded to pass by the voice signal to advance. If he 
cannot be persuaded, the rider must dismount, walk 
in front of the horse, and on the side toAvards the 
object and try to make the horse follow. The way 
of operating with the hands in order to prevent the 
reactions due to fear on horseback, is explained in 
The Functions of the Hands in Biding. 

To be able to carry out this prevention of the 
reactions of fear it is necessarv to have studied: 



266 FEAR 

liow to feel the movements of the horse's spine 
under the saddle; — the acting of the horse's me- 
chanism in order to recognize from the movements 
of the spine which actions the horse intends to do ; 
— the way of applj ing the several aids and puni- 
shments and at the right moment; and to have 
taught the horse to go forward promptly when the 
aids and punishments for exciting motion are ap- 
plied. — These things are explained in the Arte 
di Cavalcare. 

Degree of possibility of allaying fear. 

Fear may be allayed in many horses, who are 
not nervous, in the way above described and on 
the conditions above stated, among which confi- 
dence and obedience are particularly necessary. It 
cannot be remedied in nervous horses because they 
are continually overcome by it and cannot forget it 
notwithstanding the use of the means of persuasion. 
If it is seen that the means of persuasion are of no 
avail for removing the fear of a horse, it is better 
to give him up before he has led us into danger. 



FEAR 26t 

There is great difficulty in removing the fear 
produced by any material harm he has experienced 
from an object, or from a serious threat of danger. 
If he found himself sinking in soft ground, if an 
object has actually struck him by falling on him 
or running against him, it will be very difficult 
to get him to forget his fear of it. If a large 
barrel were rolled towards him, he could not be 
persuaded not to swerve aside in order to avoid it. 
In order to persuade him not to be afraid of a 
rolling barrel it must be rolled alongside him and 
not towards him. Rolling it against him would be 
the way of teaching him to be afraid of it. 

We must prevent occurrence of accidents 

to the foal which is taught 

outside the riding school in order not to give him 

had associations inspiring him with fear. 

The foal must not be given bad associations of 
fear with respect to the actions it is desired to 
teach him to perform and with respect to the 
places through which it is desired to make him 



268 FEAR ( 

pass. We must first examine the places through 
which we intend to ride him in order that he 
should not find himself under circumstances which 
may give him bad associations or associations 
adverse to us, and render him frightened and diso- 
bedient. The various places with their different 
appearances and circumstances should be known i 
and taken into consideration by the teacher who I 
desires to teach the foal not to be afraid, and should . 
be arranged in progressive order according as they • 
are more or less adapted to excite fear. The tea- < 
cher should then begin by making him pass gra- 
dually from places which are less calculated to ' 
make him take fright to those places which may » 
give him greater fear. 

If the first time he were made to pass over a i, 
bridge the bridge were to fall, he would associate 
the fall with the bridge and would not pass over 
a bridge a second time. If it happened to him to i 
sink down into soft ground so as to hurt his legs , 
or remain embedded in it, he would become so [ 
frightened that he would be unwilling to advance f 
wherever he felt the ground yield though ever so 



FEAB 269 

slightly. If in making him leap an obstacle his 
mouth is hurt by the hand or if he is made to 
leap over an obstacle beyond his strength or his 
ability, and he falls, he is given an association of 
evil in connection with leaping and acquires fear 
and dislike for leaping. If on catching sight of an 
obstacle which is new to him, of which he is afraid, 
and which he does not venture to leap he is puni- 
shed, his fear and his dislike to jumping it grows 
so much the more, and he is rendered so much 
the more rebellious and caused to recede. 

It is of course understood that the horse who 
knows already how to jump and has been habi- 
tuated to leaping over obstacles in the open coun- 
try does not come under this head. He may be 
punished to get him in hand and make him jump, 
and he understands that he is punished because he 
will not jump. He should always be given short 
punishments, after which with conciliating words 
and caresses the aversion produced by the punish- 
ment should be removed, not only with a view 
not to leave him in dislike of us but also not to 
leave a bad special association of punishment cou- 



270 FEAR 

pled in his mind with the place in which he was 
punished, in order that on passing there anew he 
should not be afraid. 

There is great liability to error with respect 

to the susceptibilitj/ of horses 

to fear and their excitability to motion. 

In order to know the mental qualities of a 
horse a certain amount of time and many tests 
are required. The horse dealer puts him through 
tests which last a moment only and even these 
are rendered of no value by his men who are cle- 
ver and have already trained the horse in their 
way. They all keep the horse's attention engaged 
so that he should not show his vices and fear, and 
they do not allow him to stand still if, on his 
standing still, defects could be perceived in his legs 
which cannot be seen when he is in motion. Ge- 
nerally the horse is intent on everything that 
surrounds him and that he meets, but the dealer 1 
with his men causes his attention to be distracted 
and to be engaged with them, and the horse has ^ 



FEAB 271 

no time to observe objects and be afraid of them. 
Chance may likewise contribute to deceiving the 
purchaser. At times the horse looks at a thing of 
which he is not afraid, and on the other hand 
does not look at something else of which he would 
be afraid. 

Thus it may be thought that a horse is not 
afraid of a given object because on passing in its 
vicinity he showed no fear, but in reality he was 
not afraid because he did not look at it. On ano- 
ther occasion he may chance to look at that par- 
ticular object and will be afraid of it, and it will 
then be thought that he is afraid of another object 
because, as he did not show fear of the one in 
question on the first occasion, he is regarded as 
being without fear of it. At times horses are met 
with which always show signs of fear and swerve 
on one side only and not on the other. It may be 
concluded that it is due to a defect of vision on 
the one side, but it may also be the result of a 
habit of always looking towards that side. It may 
be thought that the eye-sight on the side where 
no sign of fear is given is perfect, and yet it may 



272 PEAR 

not be so. Of many things which are in view at 
the same time it may be that more impression is 
made by the thing which in our view would be 
held less likely to cause it, and the horses are re- 
garded as being afraid of a thing which does not 
cause them fear, but which in our opinion should 
cause it, whilst they in reality are afraid of some- 
thing else. Eor this reason mistakes are often made 
as to the susceptibility of horses to fear. 

The dealer's horse when handled by his men 
appears very animated, starts forward on the least 
sign and shows fine movements.- The day after \ 
when handled by the buyer or his man, the same 
horse seems sleepy and sluggish, the buyer being , 
very much astonished and thinking that he is ill. , 
He does not know that the dealer has temporarily ( 
enlivened the horse by administering a good whip- 
ping with a copper-wire tipped whip to the accom- | 
paniment of a certain sound of the voice. Thus the ; 
horse whilst he is with the horsedealer well remem- 
bers the sound of the voice in question and moves 
l^romptly and rapidly, not waiting for what he 
knows will follow, but with the purchaser he is 
not afraid and does not move. 



J-EAR 273 



In riding it mnst he sought to anticipate 

the fear of the horse in order 

to he in time to prevent his reactions of fear. 

Even after having tanghl the horse not to be 
afraid of manj^ and various objects, and after ha- 
ving given him the habit of not being afraid, he 
may still experience fear of manj' things and 
under many circumstances, although in a lesser 
degree, because it is his nature to be easily acces- 
sible to it. A pig or a dog running towards him 
or between liis legs, an object suddenly coming to 
meet him, a man who unexpectedly jumps on to 
the road from a side ditcli, or any other accident 
may occur at any moment and cause him fear, and 
this fear may excite him to swerve aside or turn 
backwards. 

It should therefore always be borne in mind 
that the horse may be afraid and we must be always 
intent on looking out in front for the things which 
I may be encountered ahead or which may be met 



18 



274 FEAE 

with along the road on both sides, and even for! 
those which may come from behind, although ofj 
them he may be less afraid. We should also atten- 
tively follow the horse's motions as felt from the 
seat, and by the hand, and observe the signs of 
fear given by the ears and the head which during 
fear is bent in the directicm from which the horse 
believes that the object of fear will approach. When' 
it is foreseen that he may be afraid, the horse 
must be collected at once by hand aids and aids or) 
punishments for exciting him to go and his head] 
must be bent in a direction away from the object 
of fear, in order to make him see it sideways, so] 
that he may be less afraid, as these are the only 
means we possess of preventing him swerving on 
one side or turning back and running into dangerji 
If we were to perceive from a distance a spe! 
cial object coming towards us on the road, which 
we thought the horse might be very much afraid 
of, so that it would not be possible to hold him, it 
would be better to turn back and go into a sidci 
field, waiting until the object had passed, ratheii 
than give him occasion to turn back. With horsoi 



FfiAH 275 

it is always to be remembered that, as in other 
things in life, prevention is better than cnre. 

I7i ridhiff the fact of the rider keepmi/ 

the horse's attention fixed on himself assists 

in preventing fear. 

When his attention is engaged with the rider 
the presence of an object of which the horse would 
be afraid is not noticed, and he is not seized by 
the idea and feeling of fear. 

Therefore the first precaution to take when ri- 
ding, besides that of trying to discover the things 
which may cause him fear, is the rider keeping 
his horse attentive to himself by some aids (voice, 
hand, whip, spurs) applied at intervals now and 
then to make the horse remember that he has 
somebody on his back and is not alone and as soon 
as he shows a sign of incipient fear, collecting him 
immediatel}^, and endeavouring to remove the idea 
of fear by conciliating voice and caresses, and by 
preventing him with the reins from looking at the 
object of fear, bending him in the other direction, 



2U ffiAft 

and persistently urging him with aids and punish- \ 

ments for exciting him to go so that he may not j 

stop and get out of hand, as then he may turn to 1 

ii 
one side or back. Drawing oif his attention and 

keeping him occupied and engaged with us is the I 

best means of preventing the horse from being! 

afraid, and even up to a certain extent from making f 

reactions for other reasons. Some horse dealers! 

know this well, and are very skilful in doing it.i 

Three or four of their men walk around the horsej 

which they are showing the buyer, and all of themj 

do something to him, and the horse, having hisi 

attention engaged by many different actions and? 

men, goes straight forward without showing fear, 

and without doing anything. He is afterwards 

afraid when with the buyer, because the buyer 

does not do the same to him as the dealer's men 

did. 

Pretence of fear. 

The term « pretence of fear » is used when the 
horse passes an object while held in hand without 



FEAR 277 

showing signs of great fear, and does not pass it, 
but turns back when he is left free. I should 
think this to be fear in no very great degree during 
which he has been allowed to turn back, and there- 
fore he always conceives the idea of turning back 
from having done so. It must be dealt with just 
like fear itself. We must look out beforehand as 
far as possible for objects which may give him 
ground for swerving and turning back and must 
get the horse in hand, as in all cases of fear, to 
prevent him from swerving and turning back, but 
he must afterwards be taught not to be afraid in 
the way above stated. 

Teaching the horse not to he afraid of railway 
trains, fire arms, and motor cars. 

As already stated it is understood that this 
like everything else relating to fear, and all mat- 
ters which it is desired to teach him, can only be 
done after he has been rendered confident and 
obedient. To teach the horse not to be afraid of 
things which cause him great fear, such as rail- 



278 FEAK 

way trains, gun firing, and steam motors (which J 
make a great noise and have rapidly revolving 
wheels) time is required and a carefully graduated J 
scale of instruction. The company of another horse, ] 
and still better of other horses who are not afraid 
of these things is very useful, simplifying and fa- t 
cilitating the task of teaching him not to be afraid ^ 
if possible. Artillery remounts learn quickly and 
with few exceptions by being always together with 
old horses. Bach horse must always be taught se- ' 
parately in overcoming his fear. By putting toge- \ 
ther several horses who are frightened, they com- ' 
municate their fear to each other, and consequently 
grow more excited and still more afraid. 

In order to teach the horse not to be afraid ' 
of things which cause him great fear, the things 
already stated must be done in the way already 
explained, but still more gradually. He should be 
in the company of other horses a little way ahead 
and nearer to the object of fear ; he must be held ■' 
facing the object (train, machine &c.) by two men I 
(of course without blinkers, because in order to I 
persuade him he must see the object of fear), hold- 

I 



PEAR 279 

ing him on each side with two lounges attached to 
the side rings of the cavesson and the man, who is 
teaching him not to be afraid, should stand in front 
of him with another lounge and close to him so 
as to be able to stroke him on the head and on 
the eyes. Thus, the teacher remains between the 
horse and the object of fear. Holding the horse 
with the croup towards the object may give him 
less fear, but it is not so well because he, being in 
a position favourable to bolting, might drag the 
men with him, and he would have learnt that he 
can run away, which would be very bad. 

The men on each side should stand a yard or 
two away and slightly in advance of the horse's 
head. They should not do anything, save offer an 
elastic and yielding resistance, if the horse draws 
back owing to fear, and the same must be done by 
the man at his head, in order to overcome his fear. 

Just as not doing anything to him in presence 
of the object of fear is the way of ridding him of 
his fear, in the same way when the object of fear 
passes he should be allowed to look at it without 
doing anything to him, only speaking to him 



280 FEAR 

soothingly, and stroking him, and letting him re- 
cede slightly, we following, but preventing him 
from turning back and running away. His being 
able to turn back and run away excites him and 
very much increases his fear, spoiling the lesson 
because he sees that he can escape. Great care 
must also be taken to use a strong cavesson and 
strong lounges which cannot break, because if they 
broke it would suggest to him that he could break 
them, and he would always seek to do so. 

The resistance offered to his receding must be 
elastic and yielding, because if it were sought to 
hold him standing absolutely still, his fear would 
greatly increase. For this reason the horse, in front 
of whom an object of which he is very much afraid 
must pass, must not be tied to trees or to the wall, 
or to a fixed point. There may however, be some 
exceptions to this. 

The men who assist in teaching the horse not 
to be afraid should themselves not be afraid of 
what the horse may do in consequence of his fear. 
Therefore to do this duty, men are required accu- 
stomed to being with horses and trained in the 



FEAR 281 

way of going about them. There is no danger for 
them since standing as they do on one side and 
slightly in front towards the object of fear they 
can only be drawn backwards by the horse when 
he recedes, and there being three of them together 
with the one holding the middle lounge they can 
prevent him turning back without great effort. 

If other horses are held in front of the one 
which it is desired to teach not to be afraid, and 
between him and the object of fear, the backing 
of the horse will be slight. Care must be taken 
not to do anything disagreeable to the horse either 
before or when the object of fear passes or after 
it has passed. After the object of fear has passed 
the horse should be kept still for a time as if he 
were led away directly he might think that he could 
have turned back of himself. Each day he should 
continue to be held still, looking at the object of 
fear once only on the first day and repeatedly for 
some time on the days following until he shows 
he is no longer afraid. After he has become quiet 
he is left without the companionship of the horse 
which had been placed in front of him in order 



282 FEAR 

to facilitate overcoming his fear, and then the men 
at the side are dispensed with, the man with the 
middle lounge remaining alone. 

The lesser or greater fear he experiences of any 
object, and his lesser or greater readiness in allow- 
ing his fear to be dispelled depends upon the 
degree of confidence and trust and the sense of 
obedience felt by the horse towards the man lead- 
ing him or at his side or in front of him, and 
towards the other men who hold him on both sides, 
and also according as he is more or less nervous. 
It need not be said that in order to dispel his fear 
a place must not be chosen with ditches or other 
dangers near it into which he may go on his re- 
ceding or swerving to one side. Then he would 
attribute the evil of having run into the ditch to 
the train or other objects coming or passing in 
front of him, and would be so much the more 
afraid of it. 

Whether he draws back more or less depends 
on the greater or lesser proximity of the point at 
which he is placed to view the passing train or 
to hear the discharges or the noise of other ma- 



FEAR 283 

chines. He should be placed a long way off on the 
first occasion and gradually brought up closer 
afterwards. He should not be brought up closer if 
in the more distant place where he was first held 
he has not become entirely indifferent to the sight 
of the object or the noise of the discharge. 

It requires a great deal of time to teach some 
horses not to be afraid of railway trains. If it is 
a carriage horse it should be led free and without 
blinkers, and not attached to the carriage, but 
with lounges and cavesson on foot as already sta- 
ted. The horse should be stopped at a distance 
from the place where the train passes, to that he 
should see little of it, and hear little of the noise 
to avoid making too great an impression. Each 
day on which he is conducted afresh to see the 
passing train, if his nervousness permits it, the 
effect of fear will diminish, until finally he will 
be persuaded to have no fear because no harm 
happens to him. 

He should be shown the train once or twice a 
day, but at long intervals at the beginning in or- 
der not to excite him too much, and to give him 



284 FEAR 

time to calm down, but this must be continued 
every day. In bringing him up closer the stages 
should be very gradual, so that he should not be 
alarmed. If it is sought to draw him near in a few 
days in order to get the matter over quickly, he 
may very easily learn the contrary, i. e. to be afraid 
instead of learning to have no fear. A great deal 
has then been lost, and it is necessary to begin 
anew standing at a greater distance, and at such 
a distance that he is not alarmed by it, but in 
this case it has become more difficult to remove 
his fear, because the fear has taken root in the 
mind of the horse. An enclosed field near a rail- 
way and another horse or more horses for com- 
panionship simplify very much the process of teach- 
ing him to have no fear. Oxen grazing in the 
fields near the railway, after having for some days 
observed that the passing of the train does them 
no harm, become indifferent to it. It then remains 
to teach him not to be afraid standing close to the 
train, because standing at a certain distance causes 
little fear, but standing close a great deal. Standing 
near a train going at high speed excites great fear, 



fEAR 285 

and it must be endeavoured to stand at a distance 
if possible and as far as possible for many days. 

To teach him not to be afraid of the discharge 
of guns, he must be held on foot with lounges and 
cavesson as stated, and brought to a stop at a very 
great distance, so that he should see little of the 
flash and hear the minimum of noise from the dis- 
charge, and so that the odour of the powder fired 
should become slight by mixing with the air. When 
he is indifferent at a distance from the place where 
the firing takes place, he may be guided round 
at a distance, at a walk, so that he should be ac 
customed not to take alarm whilst in motion. Here 
likewise the attempt to force matters and to finish 
them quickly means retrogression instead of advan- 
ce, and imperils the success entirely. He should 
not be led close if at the farther distance he has 
not become quite indifferent to the flash and the 
noise of the discharge. Some do not make reactions 
on hearing and seeing the discharge but cannot 
help giving a start, which is the effect of a painful 
sensation experienced in the brain. 

In order to accustom him to firing whilst he 



286 FEAR 

is ridden, if his nature allows, great gradation is 
required, and he must first have been rendered 
indifferent to any firing near him whilst led on 
foot. A good preparation is holding him still at 
a certain distance from a target and going gra- 
dually nearer. At first only caps should be used 
once every now and again, and afterwards a small 
amount of powder. When a pistol is fired off on 
the right with the right hand, many horses acquire 
the vice of turning round to the left. This means 
that firing has been done on horseback before they 
became indifferent to firing on foot near them. The 
gradual course must be recommenced, and after- 
wards instead of firing with the arm to the right, 
the arm should be held perpendicular, and after- 
wards a little to the right. 

Much unrest and many vices in the shape of 
rearing, jumping and turning back when shots are 
fired (m horseback, are caused by the rider, who 
instead of remaining still and not giving him un- 
pleasant sensations before firing, during firing and 
after firing, jerks his mouth with the hand or ill- 
treats him Avith the spurs, sits with his body in- 



FEAR 287 

clined forward, and disturbs the horse. The dis- 
charge of guns is unendurable to some horses be- 
cause it gives them a painful shock in the brain. 
For these a remedy may be cotton in the ears. 

In order to accustom the horse to the sabre, it 
is attached to the saddle and the trainer walks 
along with him at his side, holding him with the 
cavesson and lounge in the riding school after 
having given him instruction with the lounge and 
he is always stroked and stopped if he shows 
signs of agitation. When he is indifferent at a Avalk 
he is made to go at a short trot and at a gallop, 
and he must always be brought back to a walk 
and stopped and caressed if he begins to grow 
excited, and not allowed to run because he would 
grow much more excited and so on indefinitely. 

Corte da Pavia said that he taught the war 
horse to be courageous by simulating a combat 
with another rider who always drew back. He 
taught the horse to allow himself to be ridden by 
the master only, by having him ridden by others 
who ill-treated and punished him and allowed him 
to make reactions and pretended to fall from him 



288 PEAR 

whilst the master when riding him always cares- 
sed him. This is right. It was giving good asso- 
ciations to the master and bad associations to the 
others, but it does not attain its purpose if the 
rider is a skilled liorseman. 

To accustom the horse to the motor car these 
proceedings will be useful. Place a motor in the 
centre of an open space so that it is conspicuous 
in the full light of day. Have the horse (of course 
without blinkers) led round the motor at the di- 
stance of twenty yards by two or three men with 
two or three lunges to the cavesson. Walk the 
horse very slowly and quietly, giving the soothing 
voice and stroking him while walking. Stop now 
and then to make him more quiet and meanwhile 
repeat caressing. The men leading him must be 
acquainted with the horse and have his confidence. 
They must not have ill-treated him and be feared 
by the horse. 

Gradually let the men leading him round de- 
scribe smaller circles and (with the gradation requi- 
red by each particular horse to overcome fear) stop 
at last at a few yards distance from the motor. 



FEAR 289 

After standing awhile and stroking him, with the 
soothing voice sound, the men must turn towards 
the motor and draw the horse behind them but 
they must not force him to approach the motor if 
they see some reluctance to do so. This will be 
exceptional because the horse has the men before 
him and between him and the motor. If it happens, 
the horse must be walked round again for some 
time. Forcing him to approach by material force 
would excite his fear and teach him to be afraid 
instead of teaching him not to be afraid. 

If by a rare case he is not willing to approach 
the motor the first day, he will be willing another 
day. Some one sitting on the motor who knows the 
horse and who welcomes him with the soothing 
voice-sound will facilitate his approaching. The 
man sitting on the motor caresses him and may 
give him oats in the box used for that purpose and 
known to the horse. To gradually induce the horse 
to eat oats on an object of fear is to give him a 
very good association with that object. 
i To facilitate approaching the motor by a very 
timorous horse his groom may present him the 



19 



290 FEAR 

oat-box at two or three yards distance from the ) 
motor which will give him the idea of advancing. ^ 
When the horse advances the groom must stepi 
backwards towards the motor to induce him to! 
keep on advancing, still holding the box and letting 
him have a few oats. After a while the gi'oom mayt 
retire still more and place the box on the ground i! 
close to the motor or on the motor itself. These* 
operations have the object of giving the horse good, 
associations with the motor. The men leading the> 
horse with the lounges, the man sitting on the 
motor and the groom being all close together withe 
the horse, he Avill be soon persuaded to approach.: 
The noise of the motor makes an impression on i 
all horses. It must be tirst heard from a distance 
the horse standing still with two or three men with* 
lounges. The men circle round leading the horseii 
with the lounges and stop now and then before 
the noise begins, as the tirst times he must hear! 
it standing still, so that he may remain quiet.? 
Hearing the noise while walking might excite him.] 
After he is accustomed to hear it while standing! 
still he will be kept walking to hear it while* 



FEAR 291 

walking. When he is accustomed to hear it circling 
from some distance he must hear it gradually 
nearer and standing behind the motor and on the 
side of the motor. After this has been done for 
an hour for several days and the horse is nearing 
the motor decidedly and is not afraid of the noise, 
the men leading him must be gradually diminished 
till only one leads with only one lounge and with- 
out the man who sat on the motor and without 
the groom. 

When the horse is accustomed to the sight and 
noise of the motor standing still, he should be ac- 
customed to the motor moving. Have the motor 
moved very slowly so that the horse may be led 
to follow it by the men with the lounges at a slow 
walk. The walk must be very slow. Were the horse 
to be obliged to follow at a quick walk he would 
grow excited. After he has been walking for some 
time behind the motor, stop it and have him led 
forward passing close to it. Then stop the horse and 
move the motor passing close to where the horse 
stands and stop it some yards forward. Repeat this 
several times and then make the horse walk close 



292 FEAR 

to the moving motor, the man who leads him 
being between the horse and the motor and later 
the horse next to tlie motor and the man ontside. 
When become familiar with these things lead the 
horse in one direction and move the motor in the 
reverse so that they circle round meeting, and do 
this exercise for an hour for many days till the 
horse is quite indifferent to meeting the motor. 
These proceedings are intended to show him that i 
the motor moving does him no harm. 

To accustom the liorse to the motor moving 
with velocity choose a mile or two of a broad and , 
straight road that the horse may see the motor * 
coming from afar. Place the horse at one end and i 
the motor at the other and have them meeting | 
many times with increased velocity but only in- 
creasing velocity if the horse shows no excitement 
in meeting it with less velocity. In doing this the , 
horse must be mounted and quietly ridden and for 
some time must meet the motor only at a walk 
that he may not get excited, and then at a trot, » 
not at a gallop, as many horses are excited by the i 
gallop. Repeat these meetings for many days till i 



PI)AR 293 

the horse shows himself indifferent to a good deal 
of velocity but not very great. 

These proceedings may remove the fear of the 
horse when the motor moves at no great speed. A 
great speed will allways frighten horses as it frigh- 
tens us. To be persuaded of this try to stand at a 
yard' s length from the rails when an express train 
passes instead of standing twenty yards off. For 
this reason motors going at a great rate will 
be always dangerous to people riding and driving. 
Horses that are overworked and are used in the 
crowded streets of a large town are less liable to 
be seized by the feeling of fear especially when 
there are two together. A single horse on an iso- 
lated road will be easily taken by panic on seeing 
a motor coming against him at great speed. 

Having put the horse in confidence, in obe- 
dience and taught him to go in union in the hand, 
and having accustomed him not to be afraid of 
many objects we may hope to remain his master. 
We cannot be quite sure because a great fear may 
be excited by some object or animal and then the 
horse may obey his instinct of fear more than our 
aids and punishments. 



294 PEAE 

Tear, if great, is a very serious matter in hor- 
ses, because as it is an involuntary nervous com- 
motion even good treatment att'ords little remedy, 
and has but slight influence. If there is no success 
in removing it in the way above explained this 
means that it is an ill without remedy, and there- 
fore an ill to which we must resign ourselves, 
and it is useless to allow oneself to be overcome 
by anger and to punish the horse, because this 
only increases his fear. The real remedy is to em- 
ploy the horse for slow draught purposes. 



y^ 



^^A^WrA^Ws^^Ws^f^W^^W^/fN^*^^^ 



REACTIONS. 

« Reacfions » are actions of the horse directed 
against the rider, who by his aids requires him to 
perform some movement, or by his punishments 
seeks to force him to make this movement. They 
may even be made with the idea of attacking. 
They may be called reactions because the horse 
acts against the actions of the rider which excite 
and provoke him to revolt against them. These 
material reactions are manifestations of mental 
opposition, of resentment, of anger, of hatred to- 
wards the rider. 

The horse which has acquired the habit of ma- 
king one or more reactions on the application of 
some aids or punishments or in some particular 
circumstances or places is called vicious. He has 



29G REACTIONS 



acquired this Labit from Laving seen once or se- 
veral times that with his reactions he got the bet- 
ter of the rider and made the rider cease to give 
him aids and punishements. 

Various reactions. 

The horse may react in various ways and va- 
rious degrees, for various reasons and in connection 
with various circumstances. The reactions here re- 
ferred to are not those of the colt, from which 
we are not entitled to require that he should be- 
have well until, after the proper period of instruc- 
tion, he has been rendered confident, obedient and 
resolute in going, but those which the horse know- 
ingly makes against the rider through not desi- 
ring to perform a required movement or owing to 
ill-will. 

The horse may react by rearing — kicking — 
raising the croup — by jumping sideways or back- 
ing — by standing still, refusing to go — buck- 
ing — running awaj^ — The reactions made when 
the body of the horse is straight are stronger but 



REACTIONS 29 f 



those in trayerse cause the rider to lose his ba- 
lance more easily. 

General Causes of Reactions. 

As the obedience of the horse is due to his 
mind being in a state of confidence and subjection, 
and his body in the position in which he can be 
prevented from making actions of his own will, 
the general causes owing to which the horse makes 
reactions are — the moral condition of want of 
confidence and subjection, in which he rebels 
against and feels enmity towards the rider; — his 
not being willing to yield and obey the aids of 
the hand and the aids for stimulating him to go. 

His want of obedience and subjection is the 
cause of his desiring to follow his own instincts, 
and to make reactions if the rider endeavours to 
prevent him from doing so. His having been able 
to make a reaction shows him that the rider is not 
capable of preventing him, that he can do so; it 
opens his eyes to his own strength, to his superio- 
rity over the rider, and he always desires to do it 



298 BEAOTIONS 



and does it wheDever provoked. His having made 
this discovery and retaining the memor}' of it gi- 
ves rise in him to the impulse to repeat the reac- 
tions even without provocation or any special 
reason except that of his remembering having been 
able to do so, and from repeating them many times 
he acquires the habit. 

Save in the case of vicious-natured horses it is 
for the most part the rider who by his wrong 
treatment has made the horse his enemy, and by 
his lack of skill has allowed him to understand 
that the rider is feeble and that he can do as he 
desires, can react and conquer. 

Special cmises of reactions. 

The ditferent ways in which the horse may be 
excited to anger are chiefly the particular causes 
of most of his reactions ; they are — the hand 
aids which hurt his mouth ; — the aids and pu- 
nishments for exciting going inflicted when, not 
being in an obedient frame of mind, he does not 
tolerate them and by them is excited to anger and 



REACTIONS 299 



to revolt ; — his being forced by the rider by way 
of punishment to perform some movement from 
which his body experiences pain owing to his not 
being prepaired for it ; — the particular condition 
of excessive sensitiveness which makes him feel 
excitement and anger even from actions by which 
other horses are not excited, such as experiencing 
a tickling sensation or being irritated by the spur ; 
— his being in a state of idleness and exuberance 
of spirits from which he becomes very excitable 
not tolerating many actions which he tolerates 
when he is not in this condition, and feels the 
need to jump; — his being excited by anything 
which hurts him, by the bit, the saddle, the crup- 
per, tight girths <fec. — his being weak in the 
backbone or in the houghs thus suffering from the 
weight of the rider; — the fear of objects which 
make him swerve, turn back, rear and swing 
round on his hind legs. 

When he is not yet in obedience his instinct 
of sociability is the reason of the horse seeking to 
run towards other horses. If he has once been able 
to go to them against the will of the rider he will 



300 REACTIONS 



always be anxious to go to them and if the rider 
attempts to prevent him he will make reactions. 
Giving much leaning on the hand maj^ be the 
cause for exciting running away. 

Santapaulina observed that teaching the horse 
to go in union is the cause of most reactions. I 
should say that in this case the reactions are due 
rather to the want of gradation or preparation of 
the body in teaching him to go in union owing 
to Avhich he feels that pain is being inflicted upon 
him in collecting him and keeping him collected. 

The reactions are due to the causes specified 
but the material possibility of making them arises 
from the horse having free command over his body 
i. e. by his going low on the forehand and therefore 
being mechanically able to behave as he wishes 
and take up the preparatory positions suited for 
making reactions. 

Hoiv reactions are determined. 

When a horse has a motive for making reac- 
tions from one of the general or special causes 



REACTIONS 301 



mentioned, his reactions may be determined by — 
provocations of the rider — by circumstances — 
by reminiscence. — All special causes which may 
excite the horse to make reactions may also be 
occasions for their being carried out. 

Unless the horse is of a vicious nature most 
reactions are occasioned by provocation of the un- 
capable rider — who does not know what he 
should do — who does what he should not — 
who does not know hoAv to prevent them by proper 
aids or punishments applied in due time — who 
has ventured upon a struggle with him — who 
excites him with the spurs — who rides him be- 
fore having taught him confidence, obedience and 
brought his body into the proper position in which 
it can be prevented from making reactions — who 
will force the horse to perform a movement which 
he does not desire to make because his body, not 
being prepared for it, feels pain. Usually the horse 
refuses to make this movement on the first aids 
being applied and reacts if punishments are given 
for the purpose of forcing him to make it. 

When the horse is ridden while he is not yet 



302 REACTIONS 



in obedience the circumstance of seeing horses 
may be the occasion to go to them; — the cir- 
cumstance of passing by the road which leads to 
his stable may be the occasion of going to his 
stable — the circumstance of meeting an object 
which frightens him may be the occasion of swer- 
ving and turning back. 

If reactions are not occasioned by provocation 
of a particular rider they have been provoked by 
some previous rider and the recollection of this 
earlier provocation is the occasion for the horse 
to continue making such reactions even without 
fresh provocation. 

When once the horse has been able to avoid 
performing the required movement by making 
reactions, he afterwards makes reactions even on 
the first indication of an aid requiring it from him, 
and so much the more on it being sought to com- 
pel him by punishment, and even without the ap- 
plication of punishment, merely owing to his 
reminiscence that he had been able ,to avoid per- 
forming the required movement by making reac- 
tions. An occasion is necessary for the tii'st reaction. 



REACTIONS 303 



Subsequently the horse repeats it from remember- 
ing that he has done it before, that he has been 
able to do it and when there is no apparent 
motive the cause of the reaction is his remember- 
ing that he has been able to make it and by its 
means has caused ill-treatment and punishments 
to cease and has made the rider afraid. 

His obstinately refusing to move is usually 
caused for the first time by his mouth being hurt 
by the hand. If, after he has stopped, the rider 
again hurts his mouth by the hand and inflicts 
punishments to stimulate him to go, the horse, 
being unable to go ahead owing to being too tightly 
held in, rears, and the rider becomes afraid and 
entirely gives up using these aids and punishments. 
Having thus reared for the first time and disco- 
vered that the rider was afraid, that, he stopped 
hurting him in the mouth and inflicting on him 
punishments for exciting him to go, the horse has 
recourse to the action of rearing as a means of 
stopping these inflictions of pain. His first rearing 
was due to excitement without malice. He rears 
afterward from reminiscence of having seen that 



304 REACTIONS 



he was able to do so, that he frightened his rider 
and made him leave off inflicting punishments. 
Thus rearing becomes a deliberate and malicious 
reaction and by repeating it the horse acquires the 
habit of doing it, i. e. the vice of doing it. 

Suppose a horse be ridden outside the riding 
school before he has been taught to yield to the 
reins and to the riding aids for exciting him to go 
and to remain in hand and not be afraid. Going 
on the road will give him the opportunity of seeing 
objects of fear and he will swerve, will swing 
round without his rider being able to prevent it, 
because the horse has not yet learnt to obey his 
aids and punishments. The rider will become irri- 
tated and will inflict even severe punishment the 
first time, but not being able to hold him the horse 
will turn back, or will swing round on his hind 
legs notwithstanding the punishments, or else he 
will swing round, replying to the punishments by 
croupades and jumps. 

On these reactions the rider ceases to apply 
aids and punishments and the horse sees that he 
can run away from the object of which he is afraid 



REACTIONS 305 



and that the rider is unable to prevent him from 
doing so, and he will always wish to swerve aside 
or turn back and will also repeat the reactions if 
it is sought to forestall him whenever he sees the 
object which gives him fear. Here the first occa- 
sion for the swerving and making reactions was 
his being ridden outside the riding school before 
mastery of him had been obtained, and the im- 
mediate occasion his having seen an object which 
inspired him with fear. 

Suppose a horse which has difficulty in traver- 
sing and which the rider wishes to force to traverse 
by punishment with the spur Avithout simulta- 
neously raising the hand at the moment of applying 
the spur. The horse responds to the spur punish- 
ment by kicking, throwing up the croup, going 
against the spur by throwing out the croup on the 
side where the spur is applied, and if the rider 
continues to apply punishments he may begin to 
buck. 

Here the occasion for his learning to react 
against the application of the spur and throw up 
the croup on the spur being applied and begin to 



20 



3y^ feieACTloks 



buck, is the attetopt to make him traverse When ; 
he did not know how, wheh he eXpetie'nc'ed diffi- | 
cnlty in doing it, and the rider hot knowing how to i 
raise the hand in proi>er tiiiie to im-pede reactions. 

The occasion for making i^eactions hiay also h'e | 
due to special circumstances which give rise in the 
hWrse to the idea <Vf iyerforming hiovemehts con- 
trary to those the rider wishes. He may by a* 
ch^iice hot considered by the rider be guided into ( 
a road which leads home, and thus obtaiti the) 
idea of going there, of desiiing to go thei'e. i 

If the rider seeks to prevent hi'm going home byi 
aids and punishments the Ide^ of making rea'ctionSJ 
may be suggested to him, and if by them he sue-. 
ceeds in going home, i. e. in getting the better,T 
he will Always want to do so if the idea of going, 
home enters in his heM. ^ 

The horse which will not separate himself from 
other horses, does not make reactions if alloAved 
to go together with them, but may make them H 
it is sought to make him go in another directior 
by aids and punishments. Here the attempt to se^ 
parate him from the other horses has furnishet; 



REACTIONS 307 



him the occasion for making reactions. If he is 
required a second time to part from other horses 
this will give rise to his refusing it by making 
reactions to the first aid applied to get him to 
separate from them. 

The most important thing to observe in riding 
horses is to avoid giving them opportunities to 
learn to make reactions since prevention is better 
than cure as was remarked by Santapaulina in the 
seventeenth century. With a view to avoiding such 
opportunities care must be taken not to do many 
things and to do many others. — The horse should 
not be ridden outside the riding school if mastery 
of him has not first been obtained inside, — if 
he is not in a confident and obedient frame of 
mind and well in hand, — if he has not been 
accustomed to seeing many objects without fear. 
— He should also not be ridden even in the 
riding school if he is not obedient and resolute 
in the trot and if he does not go forward on the 
slightest aid, because otherwise he might make reac- 
tions, and after having done so it cannot be obli- 
iPterated from his mind. 



308 REACTIONS 



We must require gradually what the horse will 
be able to do according to his previous instruction. , 
If we require that he should perform a movement 
care must be taken that he has understood what ' 
is desired and that his body be prepared for it by ^ 
other preceding movements so that he may not 
feel difl&culty and pain in his body while doing it. 
To secure his performing the movement the rider 
should know what preparatory position he must 
make him take up in order that he may be able * 
to do it, and should have the ability to apply right 
aids to make him do it. 

The good training by which we render oursel- 
ves master of the horse in conjunction with the 
fact of his being trained by a capable person who 
requires from him only what he can do, — who 
does not seek to force him to do any thing save 
what he is certain of being able to compel him to 
do and that only after the horse has acquired the 
habit of going well, aifords him no opportunity of 
learning to make reactions and of seeing that he 
is the stronger and can do as he chooses. 

Many horses have a very good nature and do 



REACTIONS ;^0d 



not make reactions even when they are ill-treated, 
limiting themselves to showing lesser or greater 
oppositions, but many others soon make powerful 
reactions. To attempt to compel a horse to jump 
over obstacles when he does not know how and 
when he has not been mastered is the means most 
adapted to teaching him not to jump, to refuse to 
jump, and to perform reactions of all sorts. 

Remedy mfainst reactions. 

Reactions are made by the horse which is not 
in confidence, which is not in obedience, which in 
going is out of hand (that is, keeps his body low 
on the forehand in a position mechanically suited 
to make movements of his own will), which is not 
ready to move forward to the aids given him for 
stimulating him to go. 

To the horse which has learned to make reac- 
tions the real remedy is to teach him confidence 
and obedience as by that he will become persua- 
ded not to make reactions and to teach him to go 
in a good position and in union, and to be ready 



310 BEACTIONS 



to go forward resolutely at the slightest aids for 
going as by that the horse will have no more the 
material possibility of making reactions. This if he 
is susceptible of being cured, that is if his moral 
nature is not so obstinate as not to permit of being 
persuaded not to make reactions. 

These things may be taught through proper 
instruction with the lunge and they are also a re- 
medy to stable vices of those horses whicli are 
susceptible of being cured. It is understood that the 
application of aids and punishments with the lunge 
and whip is to be made at the proper time which 
must be seized as in fencing and fighting. A step 
taken at a wrong moment is of no use in war and 
in training horses. The rules for the application 
of the various aids and punishments are in L^ Arte 
di Cavalcare Chapters YI, and YII. 

Material coercion and very severe punishments 
are not a real cure if their application does not 
produce persuasion not to make a special reaction 
for fear of receiving such punishments. If these 
material means are applied they must be applied 
in the places and in the circumstances in which 



REACTIONS 311 



the special reaction was first made and learned to 
show the horse that he is conquered in the places 
and in the circumstances in which he was induced 
to make that special reaction. If it is not possible 
to put him in the same places and in the same 
circumstances in which he learned to make a spe- 
cial reaction circumstances and places must be imi- 
tated as well as may be. 

With cart-horses which had taken the vice of 
stopping and would j^ot move, the remedy of olden 
times in the country was to light straw uiider the 
belly. Some would not move till the straw wa^ 
actually lighted though they knew the effect of fire 
from having experienced it at other times. This 
shoAvs that they were intelligent. 

To tie tlie horse to the spot where he stopped 
and would not move and keep him there a whole 
day was another remedy and had a good eft'ect. With 
a very restive cart horse the second remedy may 
still be of service. 



> 



VO 1> ^ H e ^ © (> ?l H 9 OVH 9f l^tH H 



O^ THE BRIDLING OF HOKSES A^D 
THE USE OF THE CUEB-BIT. 



In the XYI. Century first Oesare Fiasclii a 
nobleman of Ferrara (1539) and after him Pirr' An- 
tonio Ferrari a nobleman of Naples (1598) Avrote 
on the Bridling of horses. Fra Giovanni Paolo 
d' Aquino, knight of St. John of Jerusalem (Udine 
1636) mentions the latter and not the former pro- 
bably because he was, like himself, a native of the 
Kingdom of Naples. The Bitter von Weyrother, 
head of the austrian militar}^ riding school (Vienna 
1810), said what was said by Fiaschi before him, 
but Weyrother employed modern expressions and 
invented the measuring curb-bit. 

Fiaschi said moreover that when adapting the 
bit to a horse besides the shape of his mouth, 



ON BRIDLING 313 



bars, tongue, cavity of the mouth, palate, thickness 
of the lips, it is necessary to take into account 
the conformation of his body and neck, the strength 
or the weakness of the fore part, the back and 
the feet. He very judiciously remarked also that 
the curb-bit alone is not sufficient to make hor- 
ses go well but it is necessary to have them tho- 
roughly trained in advance to go well and lightly 
and that only then the head and the neck could 
be drawn in the right position which their con- 
formation allows. He might have added that tlie 
rider must know how to apply the aids of the hand. 

Regarding the question as to whether the upper 
cheeks of the curb-bit are more adapted to raise 
the head, when long or short, the Cavaliere d'A- 
quiiio said that the upper cheeks if shorter gave 
greater action to the curb-bit and therefore had 
greater power to raise the head. It is understood 
that to raise the head the curb-bit should be made 
to act by the hand in a raising direction. 

The object of the curb-bit is to subject the 
head, neck and bod}^ to the action of the hand in 
order to control the horse better than with the 



314 ON BRIDLING 



snaffle and to compel him to execute better, with 
more union, the movements that are desired. The 
curb-bit acts as a secondary lever in which the 
power is the hand by means of the reiiis, the re- 
sistance is in the bars on which th^ cannon is pl^ 
ced, and the point of support is the curb which 
makes the bit act. 

The cannon is the part of the bit which is pla- 
ced in the mouth and keeps the cheeks firm. The 
upper cheeks are the pieces above the cannon, 
the lower cheeks are the pieces that are under- 
neatli. The cannon would be preferable if hollow, 
because it is lighter, than if solid, but if hollow 
it is not so strong and the bit must be strong. It 
must not be possible that it could break and the 
horse go free. The cannon must be placed on the 
bars of the lower jaw between the tusks and molar 
teeth without touching either. 

The curb should lie well flat round the outer 
jaw just above the chin so that when the curb-bit 
is made to act the curb should not rise if possible. 
Tlie rising of the curb and its keeping higher than 
it should be above the chin may be caused by the 



OK BRIDLING 315 



upper cheeks of the curb-bit being long or by the 
horse having a very low chin or by the cannon 
being high in the mouth, and these three causes 
may concur together. 

The cannon may be made to stay a little higher 
or lower in the space between the tusks of the 
lower jaw and the molar teeth through making 
the head piece of the bridle shorter or longer. 
The action of the curb-bit tends to bring down 
the head and more so if the cannon is placed lo- 
wer in the space between the tusks and molar 
teeth and less if higher. If it is required that the 
cannon be high in the mouth on account of the 
horse's tendency to drop his head the curb will 
stay higher, but this cannot be altered. 

The curb must be smooth and of a moderate 
breadth so as not to cause pain to the jaw for the 
action of the curb-bit ought to be only on the 
bars and therefore the curb ought to serve only 
as a support to the action of the bit. If it were 
uneven and narrow it would cause the horse pain. 
If it is seen that the curb gives pain to the horse 
a leather strap can be put in its stead. 



316 ON BRrDLING 



Curbs with points to cause much pain are used 
sometimes to force horses with hard mouths to give 
in. If it succeeds with some horses having hard 
mouths it may be used, but generally the want 
of effect of the ordinary curb-bit proceeds from the 
unskilful hand which allows itself to be weighed 
upon — or from the stiffness of the body, — or 
from the bad action of the horse which when going 
holds his body in a low position — or from weak- 
ness of the backbone, legs and feet. 

The curb must be several links longer than 
what is needed in order to be able to take hold 
of it with the fingers and put it on its hook and 
it should be used long at first and shortened gra- 
dually in order to accustom the horse to its action 
by degrees. The curb must be sufficiently long to 
allow the lower cheeks of the bit to go back at 
least one third of a right angle from the line of 
the opening of the mouth and, in many cases, to 
act more gradually, even half a right angle accor- 
ding as it may be found useful for certain horses 
and according to tlieir degree of sensibility. A very 
short curb keeping the lower cheeks in the direc- 



ON BRIDLING 317 



tion of the mouth and not letting them go back 
has a very strong action, but not gradual. 

The straight cannon acts flat on the two bars. 
The curved cannon acts on the outside edges of 
the bars and gives a little freedom to the tongue, 
but is more felt by the horse because it acts on 
a smaller surface of the bars. Eor the same reason 
the thin cannon has more action than the thick 
one as it acts upon a smaller surface of the bars. 

The several curves of the cannon are, according 
to Weyrother, to give freedom to the tongue so 
that the tongue is not caught between the bars 
and the bit with the object that the bit be felt 
more, as he holds that the bars are more sensitive 
than the tongue. He says that if the cavity of the 
mouth is large enough to enable the tongue to 
settle inside and not receive any pressure the 
curb-bit acts with greater power. If the tongue 
does not settle in the cavity but gets jammed 
between the cannon and the bars, tlie action is 
smaller. 

My master Francesco Sayler remarked that the 
gums are much less sensitive than the tongue and 



318 ON BRIBLINCJ 



that the pressitre bf the bit oil the tongne would 
be felt more by thte horse than the pressure oU the 
bars. This is a reason for believing that greater 
freedom must be given to the tongtie so that it 
should not feel pressure and pain and that the 
horse should feel less pain fronl the action of the 
curb-bit which is in condradictioU to what is sta- 
ted by Weyrother. 

To enable the tongue to fit in the arc of the 
cannon which is intended for it, if the plane of 
the arc is in the same plane with that of the cheeks 
of the curb-bit, (as curb-bits are usually made) 
the lower cheeks should be made to come very 
much back to form a right angle with the bars. 
To allow this it would be necessary to have the 
curb very long in which case no lever action could 
be made and therefore no curb-bit would exist. 
This inconvenience may be remedied in the follo- 
wing way. In order that the arc of the cannon 
should give the tongue all possible freedom without 
the curb being very long, the plane of the arc of 
the cannon should make half a right angle with 
the plane of the cheeks. Then if the lower cheeks 



ON BRIDLING 319 



of tlie curb-bit fire drawn back by the reihs so as 
to act at half a right angle, from the position in 
which they are in the same line with the opening 
of the mouth, the plane of the arc will become 
^rpendicular to the bars and will give the tongue 
the uttoost possible freedom. 

The curve of the cannon which is to give free- 
dom to the tougiite must have a smaller opening 
than thte breadth bt the cavity of the bars so that 
the cannon should ke'ep oti the burs. If the opening 
of the canridn were to be larger than the breadth 
of the cavity of the bars the cannon would not re- 
main stationary over the bars but would fall on one 
Md'e of the bars thus wounding some part of them. 

If the arc which gives freedom to the tongue 
were elliptical instead of round, one would think 
that it would be more convenient to the horse's 
tougue, as it Would leave the tongue in a position 
less different from its natural position which is 
tha^ of being extended in the sense of its breadth. 
If the tongue is kept curved by a round and nar- 
row arc it seems that it would feel an uncomfor- 
table sensation. Both arcs will be more or less 



320 ON BRIDLING 



uncomfortable as they keep the tongue in an unna- 
tural position. 

The freedom of the tongue is required more in 
the case of horses which have the cavity of the 
bars narrow and a large tongue as in this case the 
tongue does not fit in the cavity but comes out 
more. If the cavity of the bars is narrow and the 
tongue large, much freedom of the tongue is requi- 
red but not so much as to make the arc touch the 
palate. If the cavity of the bars is wide and the 
tongue small, it fits in properly and has no pres- 
sure from the bit and the bit does not require any 
freedom for the tongue. 

Tlie measuring curb-bit invented by Weyrother 
is very convenient for taking the breadth of the 
cannon as it can be made narrower and wider; and 
especially for trying the length to be given to the 
upper and lower cheeks because these can be made 
shorter or longer to ascertain which degree of 
action is best suited to the sensibility of the diffe- 
rent mouths. The cannon should be of the same 
breadth as the mouth ; if larger it does not remain 
firm and if narrower it presses the lips. 



ON BRIDLING 321 



The proportion of the length between the upper 
and lower cheeks gives a proportionate power of 
action to the bit by means of the curb. The shor- 
ter the cheeks are above the cannon and the lon- 
ger they are under the cannon the more the curb- 
bit acts. Weyrother says that the upper cheeks 
must be equal to the depth of the ca^dty of the 
bars and the lower cheeks double, but to find a bit 
which suits a horse it is better to try the upper 
and lower cheeks of different lengths and see which 
length gives the curb-bit the power of action which 
will suit him best without causing him too much 
pain. A degree of pain must be caused so that he 
should find the necessity of giving way. If the 
curb-bit can give no pain at all the horse will 
not obey it. 

As a rule, the horse, and all other animals 
yield to a brief infliction of pain and revolt against 
pain if prolonged. Revolting against brief pain may 
arise if the horse is particularly excitable, but 
usually revolting results from provocation of the 
rider who draws the reins tightly and continuously 
thus giving the horse continual pain. If we yield 



21 



322 ON BRIDLING 



the baud to a liorse immediately after he has yield- 
ed his head, neck or body to a short action of 
the hand, this gives him to understand that by 
yielding the head, neck or body he ceases to feel 
any pain in the mouth. If continual pain is given 
by the hand to a horse who is very sensitive he 
becomes excitable, stops, backs or rears for it is 
his instinct to try to free himself fi'om a conti- 
nual pain. This is the reason that the action of 
the hand must be used intermittently and not 
continuously. 

In order to find a bit which suits a horse, the 
mouth of the horse must be examined so far as it 
concerns the bars, breadth, depth of the cavity of 
the bars, thickness of the lips, tongue, etc., and 
a curb-bit should be tried which seems most sui- 
table to him according to the principles explained. 
If we see that it has too little or too much action 
we should try a curb-bit without freedom to the 
tongue and one with freedom to see which he obeys 
best. To find out the proper proportion of length of 
the upper and lower cheeks Weyrother' s measuring 
curb-bit is particularly useful because witli it Ave 



ON BRIDLING 323 



can alter the cheeks as Ave will. If the measuring 
curb-bit is not available we should try several bits 
with cheeks of difterent lengths. 

The effect of the different curb-bits must be 
tried on every single horse and we must not trust 
absolutely to the abstract theory because usually 
the lean and pointed bars are very sensitive while 
those fleshy and round are little sensitive but there 
are mouths which, to judge from a superficial 
inspection, appear less sensitive, whereas they are 
more so and there are other mouths which appear 
very sensitive while they are not so, and there are 
horses which are more sensitive about the bars 
than in the tongue, and others that are the contrary. 

As to the effect of the curb-bit one must bear 
in mind that a bod}' on a small base is drawn 
more easily than a body on a large one. Thus a 
horse can be drawn any way it is required if his 
body has been made agile and pliant and if we 
have accustomed him to go in a good position and 
collected. Besides this, a study must be made of 
the way of giving the aids of the hand and of gi- 
ving them proportionally to the sensitiveness of 
each single horse. 



324 ON BRIDLING 



The degree of power to be given to the curb-bit 
should be prescribed by the degree of sensitiveness 
of the horse' s mouth but also by the degree of skill 
of the hands of the rider who is to ride a given 
horse. The curb-bit may have much power if the 
rider has light and skilful hands: it should not 
have much power if the rider' s hands are hard 
and unskilful. 

The curb-bit must have such power that the 
action of the hand can lead and regulate the horse 
without causing him too much pain. If the horse 
is very sensitive less action must be given to tlie 
curb-bit and less action to the hand. It is neces- 
sary however, to give the curb-bit the possibility 
of acting with power because in case of excitement 
and fright the horse feels the aids of the hand 
given him much less than when he is not under 
these impressions. If the horse does not feel much, 
considerable power must be given to the curb-bit 
in order that the hand should have strength enough 
to compel him to execute what is required of him 
and to command him. • 

As a summary of the essential things on tliis 



ON BRIDLING 825 



subject it may be useful to repeat that the mate- 
rial etfect of the various actions of the liantls bj^ 
means of the reins on the curb-bit is to cause a 
certain degree of pain to the mouth (more or less) 
in order that the horse, to make the pain cease, 
may be willing to do one of these things : — dimi- 
nish his motion or stop ; — yield with head, neck 
and body ; — assume a particular attitude of head, 
neck, and body ; — bend head, neck or body ; — go 
to one side and backward ; — do some other par- 
ticular action; — put his body in a collected 
position. 

The several actions of the hands have also the 
eifect of mechanically indicating to the horse the 
various positions in whicli it is desired that he 
should place himself and of inducing him mecha- 
nically to assume these positions. 

As soon as the horse yields to the actions of 
the hands and does that Avhich by these actions 
lias been demanded of him, the actions of the 
1 lands should cease in order that the horse may 
understand that he causes the pain given to his 
mouth by the bit to cease ivJieti he yields his head, 



336 ON BRIDLING 



ueck, and body or when lie i^erforms tlie other 
movements required of liim and indicated to liim 
by the various actions of the hands. 

The actions of the hands may be repeated many 
times ^vith a moment's interval and as often as is 
necessary to obtain tlie proposed effect but always 
intermittently and not continuously so as to pre- 
serve sensibility to the mouth of the horse and not 
to incite him to use his head, neck and body to 
defeat them. 

Only ^vhen the horse goes collected and in good 
leaning \:\\(i action of the hands is continuous but 
in that case it should cause very little discomfort 
to his mouth so that it mav be easily tolerated 
as if the horse experienced acute pain in the moutli 
it v>()uld get injured or lie would be excited to 
make reactions or both eifects might follow or the 
mouth would become insensible. At the moment 
when the horse is seized with fear we may hold 
him with strong leaning and even punish him with 
the hand in order to prevent him from turning 
back but it should be done only at that moment 
and as an evil to avoid a greater evil. 



ON BETDLTNG 32' 



We should remember that Avhen the horse is 
heated by motion he can bear even considerable 
pain in his mouth without making reactions because 
being heated and roused he does not feel the pain 
but the bars become sore and the horse cannot 
then be used with the curb or the snaffle. The 
same happens with the saddle and Avith the collar 
which sometimes cause sores that are noticed only 
at the end of the journey wlien saddle and harness 
are removed, because the horse gave no sign of 
feeling pain while working. With the snaffle not 
much elfect can be made but a strong effect can 
be made with the curb. 

Another thing to be noted is tlie difference 
between the action of the hand for giving leaning 
and the action of the hand for stopping. The oppo- 
sition of the hands made for the sake of giving 
leaning to the horse and of keeping him in good 
leaning ought not to be confused with the opposi- 
tion made for the sake of stopping, in order that 
the horse may not mistake the one for the other. 
Tlie opposition made to give leaning and keep tlie 
horse in good leaning is elastic and continuous. 



328 ON BErbLiNO 



The opposition made for stopping is gradual, increa- 
sing, ending in an absolute opposition. 

The elastic opposition made to keep the horse 
in leaning tends to make him continue his motion 
and not to make him stop, because it keeps the 
body of the horse in a constant position of motion 
and he must change this position for stopping. The 
horse kept in leaning tends to increase it and to 
weigh on the hand. It should not last long and 
ought to cease before the horse weighs on the hands. 

The martingale is of great advantage for con- 
trolling the oppositions of head and neck, as it 
gives a point of support, a fulcrum, to the actions 
of the hands on both reins and is a safeguard in 
riding an unknown horse and any horse. An en- 
glish author (I think Berenger) ascribes tliis useful 
invention to Evangelista Corte, uncle to Olaudio. 
The nse of the hands has been minutely explained 
in the Functions of the hands in riding. 

The general method of instruction is to ride 
the colt directly and to teach him to lean directl}^ 
on the snaffle from the beginning. This has the 
advantage that it will be possible to ride him in 



ON BRIDLING 329 



a short time but the result will be that the colt 
will tend to too much leaning, his hind legs will 
never be brought Avell forward to the maximum 
relatively to his forehand; and his gaits will not 
be developed to the maximum. 

To make the horse supple, to develop well his 
gaits, to make him bring well forward his hind 
legs through proper instruction with the lounge 
without the weight of a rider on his back and 
without any leaning on the dumb-jockey is a lon- 
ger method but has not the above inconveniencies. 
The dumb-jockey is an instrument which teaches 
the horse to press against the hands and makes 
him learn the bad habit of leaning on them. 

The instruction with the lounge ought to be with 
a free head. Then the spine and all limbs are allo- 
wed free movements and can acquire suppleness and 
the hind legs can be brought well forward relati- 
vely to the forehand. The rules for this instruction 
are given in chapter X. of l'Arte di Oavalcare 
and the working of the horse's machine is explain- 
ed in chapter TV. 






REMARKS OK TUR:N^IKG WHICH IS 
MOVING OX A OURYE. 



When standing on a liorizontal plane witli the 
weight of the body on the fonr legs placed j)er- 
pendicularly tlie horse cannot slip. He can slip 
Avlien the legs move to put the body in motion, 
as when the body is in motion it is thrown for- 
ward by the legs and the legs by their movement 
l)ecome oblique, out of tlieir perpendicular, and in 
giving the impulsion they perform an oblique 
action from forward to backward. 

The horse is more likely to slip in turning 
than when going straight as in turning he must 
incline the centre of gravity of his body to the 



ON TURNIN« 331 



side to which he is turning and thus the legs be- 
come oblique and bent outwards besides the other 
inclination that they have from forward to back- 
wards when they are in motion on a straight line. 
The risk of slipping is greatly increased if tlie tur- 
ning is on an incline because the weight of the 
body in that case weighs more either on the fore- 
legs or on the hind-legs and thus a new obliquity 
is formed to be added to the two others. 

When turning at a walking pace, as there is 
no speed nor strain, the risk of slipping is small 
provided the ground is flat and not very smooth. 
If the ground is very smooth it is easy for the 
horse to slip even in turning at a walking pace 
and more so if there should be an incline up or 
down and most of all to the outside. 

When turning at a trot a horse is apt to slip 
even if the ground is not very smooth as turning 
at a trot is done with a fast movement of the legs 
throwing the body upwards and forward and cau- 
sing at the same time the body to bend greatly 
to the inner side and hence the legs become very 
oblique sideways and outwards. 



332 ON TURNING 



The following" ways of turning facilitate alij)- 
ping as they increase the oblique position of the 
body and legs — When the horse while turning 
])ends his neck outwards. — While trotting at a fast 
pace. — If turning sharp. — Smooth ground. — 
Ground which instead of being flat slopes to the 
side opposite to which the horse is turning. — The 
body of the rider bent forward. — To give lea- 
ning on the reins to the horse when turning. — To 
draw the outer rein while turning. 

To make it possible to reduce the risk of slip- 
j)ing it is advisable when turning to do the con- 
trary of all the things which make slipping easier. 

— To take away from the horse any leaning on 
the hand and make him go on himself in good 
position detached from the hand before turning and 
in turning. — To slacken the walk and the trot 
and make him trot slowly in a good collected po- 
sition before turning and in turning. — The rider 
not to bend his body forward, but rather backward. 

— While turning, to draw the horse' s head to the 
side to which it is intended to turn by short pres- 
sures of the rein on this side, but not with any 



ON TURNING 333 



leaning on the hand. — If the incline of the ground 
is on the outer side to effect a counterpoise to the 
weight of the horse' s body which, in order to turn, 
must be bent inwards thus throwing his legs in an 
oblique position on the outside, the rider must 
weigh more with his body on the outer side. — 
Always to make the turning as wide as possible 
leading the horse well to the outer side before tur- 
ning and when turning continue to turn. — Usually 
when turning people keep the turning narrow at 
first and think to widen the turning by drawing 
the horse outwards with the outer rein. By that 
they draw his head and neck outside and his body 
crossways and more oblique but do not make the 
turning wider. — The horse should have been 
instructed with the lounge as by that he is made 
pliant, agile and stronger and learns to support 
more quickly the centre of gravity of his body 
when bent forward, backward or on one side accor- 
ding to the actions he has to execute. Thus he 
avoids slipping, and recovers himself more readily 
if he should slip. — After the proper instruction 
with the lounge to give more stength and stability 



334 ON TUBNING 



U> the legs, the horse should be exercised in walk- 
ing very slowly with a free head on ascents and 
descents, on unequal ground and across country. 



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